


Hope For Tomorrow

by DaisyLuuWho



Series: Tomorrow, Yesterday, and Today [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-03-13
Packaged: 2018-01-12 01:19:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 29,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaisyLuuWho/pseuds/DaisyLuuWho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after Season 7!!!! This is my version of Sam's year without Dean. Consists of a small town, a diner, a mysterious waitress, and coming to terms with life. Oh, and romance!!! </p><p>Sam's trying to figure out what he's supposed to do with life now that he doesn't have Dean, Castiel, or Bobby. He meets a waitress named Violet who has some issues of her own. Can they make it work? What will happen if he tells her the truth?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How It Happened

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own a single thing except my OFC. Oh, and the town I created this story on. I completely made it up! The wonderful Supernatural belongs to Kripke. Okay, to start off I’m going to say that this is going to take place after Season 7. Supernatural says that Sam spent his year with a woman named Amelia. I say this is more wrong than a cow eating a burger. I love the name Amelia, it is actually my future daughter’s name and has been planned out so since five years ago. However, I hated the character Amelia in Supernatural (sorry, I just couldn’t deal with her). So I wanted to re-create Sam’s wondrous year and throw in my own romance. Okay, enough of me, let’s get on with the story.

Sam was still unclear on how he had ended up at a diner in the deep south of North Carolina. If he were being honest with himself, which he wasn’t, he couldn’t remember anything past blowing up the SucroCorp building. The only thing he did know is that it was five days later and he was staying in a hotel under the name Dante Shwartz. Still wasn’t sure where that name came from.  
“Excuse me?”  
Sam looked up, bleary eyed, to see a waitress standing before him. Her dark red hair was piled on her head and her blue eyes were hidden behind big black glasses. She was giving him a look between sympathy and exhaustion.  
“Do you need anything else?” She asked.  
Sam suddenly realized that it was night time outside, telling by the window he was sitting beside. How long had he been sitting here? He looked down at the cup of coffee he must have ordered hours ago and no longer saw the steam rising from it.  
“Another cup of coffee.” He croaked.  
She nodded slowly. “Okay, buddy. I’m not one to pry, but are you okay?”  
“What?”  
She sighed, leaning against the other booth. “You’ve been here almost my whole shift, never even looked at me, and ordered one cup of coffee that you didn’t even drink. I’m not complaining, but I’m wondering should I be calling someone?”  
Who was there to call? Dean and Castiel were gone. Bobby was gone. Kevin had disappeared. Good lord, had this emptiness always been there?  
“No,” He whispered. “No, I’m fine.”  
“Sure,” She didn’t sound convinced. “Coffee’s on the house, bud.”  
He didn’t even notice she had left. What was he supposed to do now? Hunting seemed so distant now, like that was another life. He had even parked the Impala in a building in the countryside. The last time Sam was on his own he had made the worst mistake of his life. He no longer trusted himself. He started to think about Jess and how much he wished she was there so she could help him, but he stopped himself. He was wanting to rely on another person yet again. He needed to learn to stand on his own, at least until he could get himself together.  
Sam got up from the booth, not even bothering with a new cup of coffee. He threw some cash on the table for the poor waitress who had put up with him. As he walked out the door, he saw the diner had posted a ‘help wanted’ sign for a cook. Well, what the hell else did he have?


	2. The Offer

Sam had soon learned the waitress’ name was Violet. She had welcomed him with cautious eyes after the diner, Berry’s Diner, had hired him to be the new daytime cook. For the first couple of days, Sam threw himself into cooking, even though he wasn’t the best cook. But the diner was placed in a small town called Kings Trail that didn’t get many new visitors. The town was like a haven for people who wanted the ‘apple pie’ life including picket fences and two point five children. Sam watched the happy families as they passed through the diner and as he walked to and from work.   
“Don’t take it personal, kid.” One of the older waitresses, Donna, told Sam one day when he had given Violet a strange look. He had asked the girl how she was, just normal polite conversation, and she had given a curt nod before walking off.  
“What do you mean?” He asked. He needed a distraction from the mess in his head, so why not add on another mystery? No wonder people consider hunters insane, Sam thought.  
“She’s been working here for three years and I barely know her. She’s not shy, just cautious. Just give her a while and she’ll start talking back.”  
Sam wondered if he could be considered the same way. Since he started working at the diner, this was the most conversation he had had. Dean used to say Sam could talk a person six feet into the ground, but Sam only felt that comfortable around family and friends. Once he was done with his shift, Sam started his walk in the dark back to his motel room.  
“Hey!”  
Sam stopped short as he turned to see Violet running up beside him. She pushed up her glasses as several strands of red hair fell from her ponytail. He waited patiently as she shifted uncomfortably on her feet.  
“Would you like a lift?” She asked, nodding towards the Jeep parked across the street. “I know that everything is the town is just a short distance apart, but…”  
“It’s okay, I like walking.” He mended quickly.  
“Please?” She raised her eyes to meet his.   
Sam hesitated before nodding. He followed her quietly to the Jeep. Sam’s grimace was unintentional as rock music blared when she turned on the car. Was it the reminder of Dean?  
“Sorry,” she frowned. “I can’t stand silence.”  
He forced a smile. “It’s okay.”  
She started driving without waiting for any directions. He quickly became amused at how she started ticking her nails against the steering wheel to bring noise to the car.  
“So,” She began. “I never really introduced myself. I’m Violet.”  
“Sam,”  
“If you don’t mind me asking, Sam…”  
“Yes?”  
“Why are you here?”  
Sam’s heart stopped as confusion draped his face. “What?”  
“Nevermind,” she muttered. “Where to?”  
“The Rose Motel.”  
The rest of the drive was silent, so Sam surveyed her car. It was filled with random things, including clothes and books. The books were large textbooks, just like the ones he had at Stanford. She drove with a concentration that most people would admire, but it worried Sam. He was getting soft, he realized. He had jumped into a car with a stranger, someone who could be a demon, shapeshifter, or a million other things. What the hell was he thinking? She pulled up to the Rose Motel, but didn’t turn off the car. Sam was unbuckling his seatbelt when she placed her hand on his arm, making him freeze.  
“I can tell, ya know?” She whispered, dragging his eyes towards hers. “I know what it looks like.”  
“What looks like?”  
“Losing someone you love.” Tears bordered her eyes, but she didn’t shed them.   
“That’s not…” Sam was trying to understand why he was about to lie.  
“Sam, I get it.” She tried to laugh but it was strangled. “I could tell the moment you walked through the doors of the diner. Everything you’re doing says it all.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Getting a job randomly and staying in a motel? You’re basically saying that you’re not sure if you’re in a permanent spot or not. Trust me, I’ve been there.”  
Sam was about to ask when she pulled her hand away from his arm.  
“If you ever decide you want out of the crappy motel room,” She said, looking away from him. “I have a spare bedroom.”  
Sam didn’t reply. He wasn’t even sure if he trusted this woman. He left the car without another word.  
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************  
To try and reassure himself, he tested her. She left a glass of water sitting in the kitchen one time, so he turned it into holy water. He watched her carefully when she drunk it, not screaming in pain or anything. So during his next test, he was cleaning after his shift and spilled the cleaner on her. Not a Leviathan. The last test was one he was unsure about doing but he still had to. Dean would tell him to stop being a little bitch about it and just do it. So one day she came in the kitchen and he pretended she scared him and he cut her with a silver knife. It was nothing big, just a scratch on the arm, but she had given him The Look. Her eyes had been wide as she looked at him the meant he was crazy and she bordering on being afraid of him. For some reason, Sam didn’t want her to think either. Finally he got the courage to talk to her again one day when she was on her break and was eating in the kitchen.  
“What are you studying?” He asked randomly.  
“How do you know I’m in school?” Violet countered.  
“The books in your car,” Sam smirked as he cut up a tomato.   
“Right now it’s history,”  
“Right now?”   
She shrugged, biting into her sandwich. “I’ve changed my mind three times.”  
“That’s normal,” Though it hadn’t been for Sam.  
“I’m technically a junior, Sam, I’m supposed to have it all figured out.” She snorted.  
He ignored the bitterness. “What would you want to do with history?”  
“I was thinking about going to a graduate school for mythology. Maybe work in a museum or teach.”  
Sam barely missed his finger. It hit too close to home. Sam didn’t speak to her for another three days. It had been when he had another nightmare. Maybe he didn’t need someone to be constantly at his side, maybe he just needed a human connection to get through this. The nightmare had been about Dean and Cas disappearing, yet this time he had watched their bodies splatter over the walls. Sam could feel it in his gut that he needed to do something, but at this point he was unsure of where to start. So, one day after work he approached Violet as she was walking towards her car.  
“Violet!”  
She paused and waited a moment before turning to look at him. “Yes?”  
Sam sighed, hating himself even for asking. “Is that room still available?”  
Emotions passed through her face, leaving a hint of a smile. “The offer stands. Come on, let’s go get your things.”


	3. Pink Elephants

Sam’s eyes widened at the sight of Violet’s apartment. It was part of a historical building, giving it more beauty. It was large, made completely of brick, with most of its size being the living room. She had eclectic furniture in the living room, including a large bookcase on each side of the TV filled with books varying from topics. Large windows were covered the walls beside the bookcase, letting in the light of the night. The kitchen was cornered off to the front entrance to the house beside the door to her room. His room was on the other side of the apartment. The room was bare except a bed with a blue comforter set and a desk that was piled high with papers and books.  
“Sorry about this,” She said, running into the room to collect some of the things. “I’ve kind of been using this room as a study room.”  
“It’s okay,” He shrugged, throwing his duffle beside the bed.  
“Well,” Violet shifted on her feet beside the door with her arms filled with books and papers. “The kitchen’s stocked so you’re welcome to anything in it. Feel free to use the TV, books, or anything.”  
“Thanks, Violet.” Sam smiled gently. “Should we go over monetary situations?”  
It was the first time he had ever heard Violet laugh, like actually gut laugh. It wasn’t like a ‘melody’ and it wasn’t horrendous, but it was honest. The laugh brought an actual honest-to-god smile to Sam’s face.  
“What?” He asked.  
“Sorry,” She hiccupped. She walked out of the room and he heard a thump. Sam followed her, seeing that she had spilled the items she had been holding onto the living room floor, and had went into the kitchen. He watched her with amused eyes as she gulped down a glass of water.  
“What did I say?”  
“Sorry,” She repeated. “I just had never heard anyone say something like that.”  
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Okay.”  
“Sam,” She said as she fiddled with the glass in her hands. “I don’t expect money.”  
“Violet,” He began, but she stopped him with holding up her hand.  
“We don’t know how long you’re going to want to stay here. I could wake up tomorrow and you could be gone.”  
“Violet, it doesn’t seem right.”  
“Besides,” She continued. “I don’t need it.”  
“You don’t?” He asked skeptically.  
She went rigid and turned away from him. “Goodnight, Sam.”  
He watched silently as the door to her room closed. Sam then started to wonder how a waitress and a college student could afford such a nice apartment.  
********************************************************************************************  
Violet hadn’t let out the breath she had been holding till Sam left the next morning for work. She had today off due to her class schedule. She stood in her kitchen wondering what in the world she was doing. She reached up to physically smack herself, but then decided she was crazy and she needed a mental smacking instead.   
Sure, she had known the moment Sam had walked into the diner that something was wrong with him. It had been in his whole manner. Yet, when he did exactly what she had done three years ago, that was when she knew. But still, she cursed herself, does that justify letting a stranger move into your home? You don’t even know his last name!   
Violet groaned before going to get dressed. She was a sap for anything broken. That was the whole reason she had bought a two bedroom apartment when there was no one else in her life. She had told herself she may have a friend who needed it one day or a family member that would talk to her again. Violet snorted, getting into the shower. She had to be really careful the first few days, at least until they got their feel of each other. Where had she put the bullets to her In-Case-of-Emergency-Gun? In her sock drawer, perhaps?  
She shook her head, trying to concentrate on getting ready for class. She had four classes to survive today so she needed her mind in tip top shape. Yet, her mind wasn’t that cooperative. On the drive to school, her mind couldn’t help but to wonder what Sam thought of her and this whole offer. Maybe he thinks I’m just after sex, she rolled her eyes. She couldn’t deny that the man was finger-lickin’ gorgeous, but guys like him never gave her two glances. She was messy, chaotic, and was at least four sizes above average in pant sizes. That had always been her mothers’ main complaint.  
Nope, not going down that road again.  
******************************************************************************************************  
When Sam got to the apartment, he realized that he didn’t have a key. Silently cursed himself, he decided he would pick it. He would just tell Violet that it was unlocked if she asked. It still scared him sometimes how natural it felt to do illegal things. He picked it through and walked through the door to see Violet leaning against the couch with a questioning brow.  
“I was coming to unlock it for you,” She said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “Until I realized what you were doing.”  
“Look, I can explain,” Sam quickly searched his mind for logical explanations.  
Violet shook her head. “Let’s just ignore it for right now. By the way, I’m usually home by three-thirty. Oh, and your spare key is on your bed.”  
Sam shut the door, grimacing at his stupidity. “Violet, I’m really sorry.”  
She paused on her walk to the kitchen. “Are you doing anything illegal?”  
Sam decided to be honest, probably another stupid move. “Not at the moment.”  
She flinched. “Drugs?”  
“Never!” He swore.  
“Robbery?”  
“No,” Okay fib a little.  
“Murder?”   
Supernatural beings do not count, he told himself. “Also no.”  
She visibly relaxed before putting on a smile. “You know that I believe you about as much as I believe that elephants are pink, right?”  
Sam chuckled. “Then why aren’t you calling the cops?”  
“I never said I was smart. Now, show me that trick before I cook us dinner.”   
“You’re serious?” Sam’s mouth dropped.  
“I’m not going to let you cook because you do that all day!” She said, ignoring what he truly meant. Why did she want to know, she asked herself.  
“No, I mean about picking the locks.”  
“Are elephants pink?”  
Sam shook his head with a light smile. “I guess in this house they are.”  
She smiled brightly as he pulled out his tools and showed her what he had been taught at seven years old.


	4. Don't Leave

She knew something was wrong, she wasn’t stupid. It went beyond the original reason she had asked him to come and stay with her. They didn’t talk about it, though. He had been living with her for a week and that was when she knew Sam wasn’t like everyone else. She had asked him what his last name was and he had told her Jones. For some reason, she hadn’t believed that for a minute, but she didn’t tell him this. There was something far more dangerous about Sam beyond a fake last name and knowing how to pick locks. She had heard him screaming the name ‘Dean’ once in his sleep. She hadn’t awakened him, terrified of the truth behind this mystery. But this time, it was different. It could have been avoided, but she guessed it was time she saw this side of him.  
This time, he had almost killed her.  
She had left a message on the home phone telling him she was going to be late getting home from school because she had a group meeting for a project. She had gotten home a little over midnight, tired and starving. She had reached for her keys, but then decided to try the new trick Sam had taught her. The lights were off when she walked through the door, causing her to bump into a table and knock over a vase. That was how she found herself against the door with a gun to her head.  
“Sam?” She whispered, fear covering her voice.  
“Violet?” He let go of her, causing her to fall to the ground. “Shit, I’m so sorry!”  
She slowly stood, reaching for the light. His face was drawn, yet she could see the pain in his eyes. What was wrong with this poor guy? He had almost killed her in her own apartment and she was feeling sorry for him! My god Violet, she told herself, it’s time to finally go and get your egg checked.  
“Violet, talk to me!” He begged through gritted teeth.  
“Didn’t you get my message?” Why was that the question she asked? Why didn’t she ask him what the hell was he thinking?  
He sighed. “No, I didn’t get off work till late and I thought you were asleep in your room.”  
For some reason, this made her sigh in relief. At least if an intruder came in she would be protected. But who would protect her from him, she forced herself to think, he’s a ticking time bomb and I don’t even know why. He placed the gun on the table by the door and reached out to touch her arm. She made herself not flinch.  
“Vi, I’m truly sorry. I was just trying to keep you safe.”  
“I know,” she muttered, looking at the ground. “I just want to go to bed.”  
“Are you mad?” He asked hesitantly. Stupid question, Winchester.  
She walked past him and towards her room. “Honestly, I’m just scared out of my fucking mind.”  
He nodded, though she couldn’t see him. “I’ll get my things.”  
“No, don’t.” She paused on opening her door.  
“Why?”  
“Because I don’t want you to leave.”  
“Why?” He persisted.  
She didn’t answer him. But he did hear the lock click on her door.  
***********************************************************************************************************  
They worked together the next day, but they didn’t speak to each other. Sam had stayed awake the whole night, fighting with himself if he should just leave now or stay. He had left early that morning for work without waiting on Violet. He caught her looking at him once as they worked, yet she turned away quickly. During the middle of her shift, she had left without telling him what was wrong. It was then he knew that when he went back to the apartment he had to get his things and get the hell out of this happy-go-lucky town.  
But it also bothered him at the same time. He was getting used to things, though he hadn’t really wanted to. He was getting to know the people and what they were like. Sometimes during his break he would sit down with a group of old men who came in every day to drink coffee and talk about fishing and the ‘good ole days.’ He liked the markets and the shops, and how kids rode their bicycles through town. It was like evil didn’t exist here.  
He still had to do it. Maybe he would go to the safe house and stay there a while. Yet, when he arrived back at the apartment it wasn’t like he expected. Violet sat on the couch waiting for him with two beers. She gave him a silent look before patting he cushion beside her. He took it and the beer she offered, knowing he would need it.  
“Are you a war veteran?” She asked randomly.  
Sam raised his eyebrows. “No, not really.”  
She nodded, clasping her hands. “I thought that would explain some things. Like the grief that I know you’re carrying and the things the other night. I thought it may be something like PTSD.”  
Probably could be, he thought. “No, nothing like that.”  
“Who’s Dean?”  
“What?” Sam rasped. He sat the beer down and tried to stop his hands from shaking. He felt his heart stop at the pain all over again.  
“Dean,” She persisted. “Look I know this is going to be tough to go through, but I need to know a little bit about you if I’m going to keep trusting you.”  
“You don’t have to trust me.” Sam stood, ready to leave. “I’m going.”  
“No, please don’t!”  
“Why do you want me to stay?” He probably shouldn’t be yelling, but the emotions were beginning to overwhelm him. “I almost killed you! Not to mention that we both know that I have a criminal background. Why in the hell do you keep trusting me?”  
She looked up at him with wounded eyes. “Because you’re not the only one who needs someone.”  
Sam sighed and sat back down. “I’m sorry I yelled.”  
“It’s okay,” She whispered. “Just tell me something, Sam.”  
“Dean is,” He cleared his throat. “was my brother.”  
Her eyes fell to the floor and he saw a tear shine on her cheek. “He passed away?”  
“Yeah,” Close enough, Sam thought. “Several days before I met you.”  
The tears kept falling as she looked up at him. “That was all I needed, Sam.”  
“That’s it? You’re not going to ask anything else?”  
“I want to,” she admitted, “but I’m waiting on you.”  
“I know nothing about you either, you know.” He scoffed. Sam closed his eyes and tried to push the pain away. Why should he be the only one who was grilled?  
“That’s not true!” She defended.  
“I know that you are a waitress, you’re a student who can’t make up her mind, and you afford a lifestyle that you shouldn’t be able to!” He snapped.  
She gulped down some of her beer before leaning back against the couch. God, why hadn’t she thought of that? It can’t be one way, Violet.  
“It was my grandmother.” She finally said, eyes on her beer. “She was the most important person in my life. She protected me from everything and taught me everything I know. She died of a heart attack three years ago. That was when I decided to go off the grid from my family and become a waitress.”  
“There’s more,” he guessed.  
“Yep, but not right now.” She finally met his eyes when his hand reached for hers. “If I tell you the rest, you will never look at me the same.”  
“Violet, can’t you tell you are unlike any person I have ever met?”  
She smiled gently. “I was hoping for it.”  
“So what now?” He asked, threading his fingers through hers.  
“Anything we want.”  
Sam told himself that he was taking advantage of a situation, but he did it anyways. She seemed shocked to her bones when he leaned over and kissed her lips with his. After seconds of tense movements, she finally gave in and closed her eyes to give into the pleasure.  
It was later that night that Sam watched her as she slept. Their bodies were intertwined, her beginning to his end. When she had first fallen asleep, he had let his eyes look over the room, but found nothing but clothes and books. The only photo in the room was of an elderly woman, who he assumed was her grandmother. What had happened to this girl, he wondered. His eyes had finally went back to her as her dark hair cascaded over her face. Her skin was so pale that it was almost pink and had freckles that danced over her shoulders that made Sam smile.  
Maybe this is what people talked about. It had been a while since he had thought about a woman like this. His heart clenched with guilt at the thought about Jess. Yet it filled with wonder again as Violet unconsciously reached for his hand. It was as if she had sensed his unease. Maybe this was his new hope.


	5. Secrets

Sam tried to pretend he was asleep, yet he couldn’t help it. It was amusing to watch Violet try and sneak out of bed. She cursed at a shoe that had almost tripped her. She was even muttering to herself about stupidity and seducing men as she tried to get dressed.  
“I thought I was the one who seduced you,” Sam finally said, startling her as she tried to shrug into a t-shirt. Sam couldn’t help the large grin on his face.   
“Well, technically,” she said as she continued her hunt for clothes. “You live with me and it was my place first, so if you think about it…”  
“What?” Sam continued to grin as he got up and put on his boxers.  
“I don’t know!” She whined, covering her face with both her hands.  
Sam chuckled and pulled her into his arms. “Let’s go ahead and clear something up.”  
“Okay,” she mumbled against his chest. She was so tiny compared to him.  
“I seduced you and…”  
“But…”  
He pinched her on the side, causing her to yelp. “I’m not done.”  
“Meanie,” she kissed his chest, causing him to flush in heat.  
“I was the one who seduced you,” he continued with a bright smile, “and I couldn’t be happier.”  
“Really?” She asked meekly.  
“Definitely.” He whispered, kissing into her hair. “I wouldn’t change any of it, Vi.”   
“Then what now?”  
“Well, I’m pretty sure you have a civics class to get to,” He said tongue-in-cheek.  
“Hardy har!”  
“What do you want?”  
She paused a moment before answering. “I want my study back.”  
Sam threw back his head and laughed. “Okay.”  
“So that means you better have your stuff moved in here before I get back!” She ran out of his reach before he could pinch her again.  
Sam felt his heart lift as he heard her turn on the shower. He knew he should be worried and he should start getting back on his path, but right now he didn’t want to. Right now he wanted to forget about the things that go bump in the night and join Violet in the shower.   
********************************************************************************************************************************************  
Sam loved how things immediately became brighter after that. He couldn’t let go of his smile throughout the days. Everything seemed magnified after that. He had more conversations with people of the town and actually enjoyed his job. He loved doing normal things like surprising Violet with dinner or helping her with the homework in her government class that she hated more than anything. He loved the grumbles she made on how ancient civilizations were better and governments were already shot in the toilet. His favorite part, though, were the nights Violet would fall asleep against his shoulder when they would be doing normal things like watching a movie or after they enjoyed each other. And he couldn’t help but laugh when she would swat him away when they were at work. Things just seemed more hopeful.  
He should have known they would run into bumps, and not even his kind of bumps. He had gotten off of work one night and decided to surprise Violet with her favorite dinner since she was going to be staying late at school. She came through the door and he was already ready to welcome her with a smile and a kiss until he noticed her pensive face.  
“What’s up?” He asked with a frown.   
She hesitated. “I know this is going to be an awkward as hell question, but what are we?”  
Sam folded his arms and leaned against the counter. “I’m not sure myself. Why do you ask?”  
Violet fiddled with her hands and focused on a spot on the wall. “I got asked out on a date today.”  
Sam stood straighter and tried to control the anger vibrating through him. “What did you say?”  
She groaned finally looking him in the eyes. “I didn’t say anything!”  
“How can you not say anything to a question like a date?”  
She threw up her hands. “I told him I would think about it, okay? What was I supposed to say?”  
Sam grabbed her and melded his lips against her. He could feel her shock slipping away and she bent into him. Which one of them is more stupid, he thought as his tongue caressed hers. He picked her up and forced her closer into him before pulling away slightly.  
“You tell that bastard you’re taken.” He growled.   
She smiled through her flushed haze. “I already had.”  
He gave her his infamous Bitch Face. “That wasn’t funny, Violet.”  
“Hey, I needed to know for future reference. Besides, he wasn’t my type.”  
He chuckled as he placed kisses on her neck. “What is your type?”  
“Men who are so tall that they have to pick me up just so I can reach their face and know how to pick locks. Wait, do I smell tacos?”  
“Tacos come first, don’t they?” He asked as he pulled away from her neck.  
She snorted. “Are you new?”  
He let her pull him towards the kitchen so they could enjoy the meal he had made. He couldn’t help the thought of how much Dean would like Violet. Or would have liked Violet.  
*******************************************************************************************************************************************  
He decided to share some more things of his past with her one night. She was stretched out across his chest, her fingers drawing lazily his tattoo. He was still thankful she hadn’t asked about it. Sam thought maybe she knew she wouldn’t like the answer she would find.  
“I went to Stanford,” He finally said, letting out the breath he had been holding.  
“Really?” She mumbled. “What did you study?”  
“Pre-law,” Such a faraway land now.   
“You didn’t graduate,” she guessed, but didn’t push.  
“No, uh,” he struggled for a moment as she waited patiently. “I was in a very serious relationship.”  
“What was her name?”  
“Jessica,” Sam closed his eyes and concentrated on the patterns of Violet’s fingers. “I thought she was it, you know? I was going to be going to law school and I thought we were going to get married and everything.”  
She kissed his heart, not speaking.  
“She was killed.” He felt Violet freeze for a moment. He decided to fudge the truth a little bit. “I had left that weekend to go help out my brother with some shit with my Dad. The apartment caught on fire and if Dean hadn’t pulled me out then I would have been killed too. After that, I went on an extended road trip with Dean.”  
“Dean sounds like a good man.” She mumbled against him.  
“He was,” Sam thought for a moment. “Stubborn and thoughtless, sometimes, but he was the best older brother.”  
“You’re an amazing man, Sam.” She wrapped her arms around him. “You keep going despite what you’ve been through.”  
“My last name is Winchester.”  
Sam knew when he said that, that was it. This was becoming more serious than it should be. But he was going to ignore it, again, and let Violet kiss away the pain.   
****************************************************************************************************************************************  
He hadn’t meant to see it, honestly. Sam wouldn’t snoop on Violet, she was the one person who got that honor. He was going through some of the bills while she was out getting groceries. They still had fights about this, but Sam said they were in a relationship (he thought, maybe) and things needed to be like other relationships. Violet had just asked when were they a normal relationship.   
The one bill he was missing was the cable bill, something he swore he had set out the night before so he could do it all in one sitting. But knowing Violet, she had probably went on some stubborn streak and had hid it from him. With a sly grin, Sam immediately went to her desk in the spare room and began to dig for it.   
That was when he saw them: bank statements. His eyes widened at the numbers as his body froze. He heard Violet call his name as she walked through the door, yet his mind couldn’t wrap around everything.  
“Sam? Where are you?” She called.  
He finally managed to pull himself out of the room. He didn’t realize that his hand was still gripping on the bank statements. He met her in the living room and she frowned when she saw his face.  
“What’s going on?” Her eyes looked down at the papers in his hands. “What do you have?”  
He handed to them wordlessly and watched her eyes widened.  
“You went through my things?” She whispered.  
“I was looking for the cable bill and I thought you may have hidden it from me.” He muttered weakly.  
“You mean the bill that’s on the fucking coffee table?” She seethed, throwing the papers on the floor.   
“Why couldn’t you tell me?”  
“Because I didn’t want things to change!” She yelled.  
“Violet, I told you about the girl I planned on marrying dying and my brother dying but you couldn’t tell me you were loaded?” He screamed back.  
“Everything changes with money!” Violet blinked back the tears. “It turns people into monsters!”  
“Violet,” He tried calmly. “I thought we were going to be honest with each other.”  
“Please! You’ve barely been honest with me since the moment we’ve met.” She rolled her eyes.   
“I’ve told you a fair share more than you have.” Sam sighed, running his hands through his hair. “I don’t give a damn about the money, Violet. I could care less if you’re rich.”  
“Says the guy using fake credit cards,” she whispered harshly. “How is Mr. Dante Shwartz, anyways?”  
Sam blanched. “How did you know about those? Did you go through my wallet?”  
She closed her eyes and leaned against the couch. “I called the motel while you were staying there. I have a way of getting information.”  
“Great!” Sam laughed without humor. “You want me to talk about myself but you can’t do the same?”  
“Alright, damn it!” She screamed. “I grew up rich. I’m Violet Donaldson of the New England Donaldson’s!”  
Sam shook his head in frustration. He could see her trying to stop the tears but failed as they fell against her cheek. He didn’t want to fight with her or make her upset. Right now, she was all he had. With a sigh, he walked up and caressed her arms.  
“Violet,” he said calmly.  
“I didn’t know my mother’s face till I was six.” She sniffled. “They were so…I don’t know how to explain it. After I was born, I was told my mother didn’t want to be around me. The only reason she had me was because my father wanted to make sure his company and his money was passed down to family. When they found out I was a girl, he was apparently highly disappointed.”  
“Violet, you don’t have to do this.” He whispered against her hair.  
“It’s been three years, Sam, I need to tell someone.”  
He sat on the couch and pulled her against him until she was sitting in his lap like a child. He felt her shudders as he rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.  
“My grandmother,” she continued. “Was my saving grace. Like I said, I didn’t know who my mother was till I was six years old. I had multiple nannies that took care of me till then. They told me I had a mother and a father, but I never saw them. Then Grams moved back from England and she forced them to spend time with me. I can still remember my mother cringe when I put a baby doll in her lap.   
“After that one time, it was me and Grams against the world. Any time she was around she made me feel special and wanted. Up until I was fifteen, I only saw my parents a handful of times. But then, things got worse.”  
“How worse, sweetheart?” Sam realized this was the first time he had used a pet name with her.  
She clutched his shirt in her hand. “I was supposed to become a debutante when I turned fifteen. I didn’t really want to, to be honest. The idea of the whole process scared me. Crowds just scared the crap out of me then ad they still do. I told my parents I didn’t want to do it.”  
“Violet,” he asked cautiously. “What did they do?”  
“My father just grabbed me and then he started shaking me. It escalated and he started shouting about how I wasn’t going to embarrass him in front of everyone. He had never lifted a hand to me before then, he had always just been distant and looked at me like I was a bug.”  
“He hit you?” Sam asked through clenched teeth.  
She nodded tersely. “After that, they locked me up in my room for three days and told all of the servants not to open the door.”  
“And the people listened?” Sam’s jaw dropped.  
“My parents blackmailed them. My bedroom was on the third floor or else I would have jumped out the window. When they let me out, my mom was disappointed that I hadn’t lost weight like she wanted.”  
Sam shook his head in disbelief and laid his forehead against her head. “It got worse, didn’t it?”  
“Depends on your definition of worst,” she tried to shrug it off. “I’m not trying to pull the pitiful little rich girl act. Not all wealthy people are like that, most of them aren’t. My parents came from old money and, to be honest, Dad is an alcoholic and Mother loves pills more than a mental ward. But, they wanted me to go to the same school my father had gone to and I didn’t. They were getting fed up with me because I had just turned twenty and had embarrassed them and their friends by not going to college after high school. I still wanted to figure out what I wanted. The only reason I was sticking around was for my Grams. We were having this huge fight and he reached out to hit me when my grandmother stopped him. Next thing I know, they’re yelling and screaming at each other about me. Then Grams was clutching her chest before she passed out. I was the only one who called the ambulance. She was already gone.”  
“Oh, baby.” Sam groaned silently.   
“I don’t want pity, Sam.” She said sharply, already trying to pull away but he held her tight in his arms.  
“It’s not pity. My heart just breaks at the thought of you in that kind of pain.”  
She relaxed back against him. “I left after that and that’s how I ended up here. I changed my last name and got rid of everything that tied me to that family. The money you saw was the money Grams left to me. I donated a good portion of it, but I wanted something in case of emergencies. I have it stashed under fake identities and worked things out with a lawyer so my parents can’t try and trace me.”  
“I swear, they will never hurt you.” He took a deep breath. “Nothing will ever hurt you as long as I’m breathing.”  
She kissed him heatedly, both wanting to forget about the secrets.


	6. The Supernatural

Things began to really look up for them. Even though they had bared their secrets to each other, there was still a lot to be told. But for now, they were a normal couple. They worked together, getting teases from the other waitresses and the customers. She went to school and had moments where she wanted to change her major again, which Sam would have to calm her out of it. He believed she belonged in history, just nothing to do with modern history or related to political science. They would go for walks in the park or go on dates to the movie. She had even brought up the topic of maybe adopting a pet. Even though Sam had this brightness in his life, it was coming close to two months since his family disappeared and he couldn’t shake the heaviness in his heart.   
That was when shit hit the fan.   
Sam walked up the stairs to their (yes, their) apartment whistling as he thought maybe he and Violet should celebrate their anniversary. He couldn’t stop the smile at his own girly thought. The smile fell when noticed the light shining through the door of the apartment. Violet wasn’t supposed to be home for another two hours. He guessed that her class had been canceled and walked through the unlocked door. The bag of groceries fell out of his hands before his mind could process the scene before him.  
Violet was sitting tied to a chair in the middle of the room. A man with sleek blonde hair and a wide grin stood beside her, holding a knife to her neck.  
“Sam Fucking Winchester!” The guy laughed. “What a surprise!”  
Sam’s nose flared, his fists clenching. “Let her go.”  
“Don’t think so,” The guys eyes flicked black.   
Sam’s eyes met Violet’s for a brief moment, noting how well she was controlling her terror. “She has nothing to do with this.”  
“Nope,” the demon chuckled. “This lovely meatsuit was that friend that asked her out. When I hopped inside him, I was shocked about all the dirty things he was thinking about his girl.”  
Sam advanced forward, but the demon stopped him by pressing the blade to her cheek, making it slowly drip blood. Sam watched in horror as she screamed against the rag on her mouth.  
“So I thought,” the demon continued. “Why not follow the little bitch and torture her to screw with the guy’s mind? So imagine my surprise when I see Sam Winchester through the window cuddling up with this ass.”   
The demon pressed the knife further down her cheek, creating a long cut. Violet finally let the tears fall and screamed silently. Sam wasn’t stupid, though. He may have been going soft, but he still knew how to protect himself. He had edged himself against the table in the hallway while the demon had been talking and reached for the flask he had taped underneath it. Quickly, he ran towards the demon and threw the holy water mixed with salt. As the demon screamed, he tackled him to the ground and quickly said the exorcism. He watched his life go back to the hell and scare it had once been in slow motion until the demon exited the poor guy’s body and black smoke fled through the window. He felt the body’s pulse and felt a sigh of relief at its steady beat.  
He stood up and began untying Violet. Even though her face was emotionless, he could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. She ripped the gag out of her mouth and rushed to check her friend.   
“Violet,” Sam started.  
“When he wakes up we’ll tell him that he just passed out on our floor after I invited him to come over and study with me.” She shocked him with how quick her mind was adjusting to the situation. “Maybe I can convince him it was dehydration or something.”  
“You don’t want to talk about what just happened?”  
“Oh I do,” she stood up and looked at him. “I would just rather wait until we’re alone.”  
Sam nodded in understanding. Forty-five tense minutes later that consisted of Sam patching up Violet’s cheek, her friend finally woke up. Thankfully, he didn’t remember anything about the demon and bought the story of just passing out. They put him in a taxi before sitting quietly in the living room.   
“Okay,” she sighed, handing him a beer as she took one for herself. “I’m ready.”  
“Wouldn’t it be easier if I just left and we forget about everything?”  
“Easier for whom?” Sam cringed at her honesty. “Sam, I knew you were one pink elephant the moment you moved in. I was just tied and gagged in my own apartment by what I assume wasn’t my friend from school. So, I need some sort of answers.”  
“You do know that I tried everything to keep this from you for your own safety.”  
“Well, you see how well that worked out.” She said dryly. “If I knew the truth, maybe I could have been prepared.”  
She was right, of course. Sam focused his gaze in front of him as he began his tale. He started at the beginning, the very beginning and listened to each intake of breath she made. As he told his story aloud, he realized how fucked up it really was. The only part he had difficulty admitting to her was the demon blood. Who admits to their semi-serious girlfriend that they were addicted to a supernatural being’s blood? He could feel her fidgeting beside him as he continued with Dean getting pulled out of hell by Castiel, accidentally starting the apocalypse, and that’s when she needed a break.  
“Had enough?” He asked, exhaustion pouring through him. He looked at the clock, grimacing at the time it had taken him just to explain that much.  
“Yes, but I need to hear it all.”   
He looked over at her to see her sitting with her head between her legs. He wasn’t sure if she was going to throw up or go into a panic attack.  
“Maybe we should stop, Violet. We’ve talked about it enough.”  
“Sam Winchester, if you stop at the beginning of the fucking apocalypse, I will never sleep with you again!”  
Sam smiled at her threat. Only Violet would be able to talk about sex and the apocalypse at the same time. So, he kept going. The constant battle of trying to stop the apocalypse, went into detail about Castiel so she would understand the next chapter. He heard her mutter ‘oh god’ when he talked about Lucifer and jumping into the hole. Next, being soulless, being crazy, and then Castiel trying to play god.  
“Fuck me,” she muttered.  
“Not right now, I’m not done.” He tried to joke, earning a punch on the arm.   
“Sam!”  
“Let me finish!”  
And he did. He was really concerned about her vomiting when he talked about the Leviathans. Bobby’s death was a difficult thing to talk about, but she held his hand and rubbed his back as he continued. He was actually proud of himself for staying steady up until the point of the story where he stumbled into the diner. He glanced at his watch, frowning as he noticed they weren’t going to be able to work today. He had a feeling Violet would be up to it anyways and to be honest, normal was long gone now. He finally looked at her again to see her ashen face.   
“Now you know.”   
“Now I know,” She echoed. “I know about fucking supernatural beings, my boyfriend stopping the apocalypse, angels being dicks, and you loosing everyone you’ve ever known!”  
Sam nodded. “That’s a Cliff Notes version.”  
Violet shook her head. “I actually freaking believe you.”  
“Well, after what you saw with your friend, it’s not that difficult to believe.”  
Violet then began to sob hysterically, her heart breaking for him and everyone he knew. He gathered her in his arms and they lay against the couch as she cried for both of them. All he had wanted to do was to keep this brightness away from the evil for just a little bit longer, but no matter what he did it would always be after him.   
“Violet,” He said quietly. “Let’s get you to bed.”  
“No,” she shook her head violently. “We’ve got work today.”  
Sam snorted. “The last place we need to be is at the diner. It’s kind of low priority right now.”  
“That’s what I mean.” She sat up until her eyes met his. “We need to get to work on your stuff.”  
“Violet, I’m trying to keep you from this life.” He groaned.  
“Sam, I’m a twenty-three year old woman, I think I can make my own decisions.” She stood up off the couch and he followed her actions. “First, I need one of those tattoos so we don’t end up with a mess with my vulnerability.”  
“Violet,” he warned, but she continued.  
“Next, we need to protect the apartment. It couldn’t hurt. And last,”  
“Violet, stop!” He yelled. “You can’t just jump into this life. I’m trying to get away from it!”  
“Sam, I noticed one thing about your story that you didn’t seem to notice: you can’t get away from it. You tried and look what happened. I’m part of your life now, whether you leave or not.”  
Sam closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. “I want you to have some normalcy.”  
“I never had it to begin with, Sam.” She held her hand in his. “Do you want to be with me?”  
He nodded. “I wouldn’t have stayed if I didn’t.”  
“Good, I want to be with you too. The thing about being with someone means you have to work out each other’s problems together. Get it?”  
He smiled faintly, pulling her into his arms. “Got it. You do know you will freak out later when you’ve had sleep and you’ve processed everything?”  
“Oh I expect it!” She grinned.   
“What was your last thing?”  
“We need to find Kevin.”  
“Crowley took him, Violet. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”  
“Everything begins with somewhere. We need to get him here and safe.”  
He wondered how many times in their relationship she was going to be right.


	7. All In

Sam wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Maybe some denial, some anger. Or even a mental breakdown or proof. Yet, Violet wasn’t like anything he expected. After his final confession, they slept for several hours. He woke up to find her gone and a note that asked him to ‘do your otherworldly thing and ward off the house against these bastards.’ So he did. Under the rugs he drew demon traps and even threw in a couple of angel warding signs under some paintings. If he has learned anything in life, you can never be too cautious. By the time he was done, Violet came back with a bag filled with books.  
“You didn’t,” He begged.  
She gave a hopeful grin. “I did. Sorry.”  
“Violet, it’s bad enough you’re not freaking out over this, now you have to go and get books about it.” Sam groaned.  
“Call it my way of preparing.” She sat the bag on the table and began pulling out various sized books.  
“You also bought my worst nightmare.” Sam muttered as he picked up a Supernatural book by Carver Edlund. “Why in the hell did you buy these?”  
“You know,” Violet sighed as she began organizing the books. “Most people in my position would just assume that you read these books and became so obsessed that you claimed it was your life.”  
Sam acknowledged this logic. “Why aren’t you?”  
She gave him a sassy grin. “I’m not most people. Besides, this will allow me to get to know the tiny details you didn’t tell me about.”  
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Sam closed his eyes and tried not to groan in pain.  
“Get over it, mister.” She grabbed him by the shirt. “We’re in this together now.”  
“Against my will?”  
“Completely! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some reading to do.” She grabbed several of the Supernatural books.  
“Violet!”  
“I’ll let you know when I’m done!” She called, locking their bedroom door behind them.  
Sam didn’t hear or see Violet for the rest of the day. So, he decided to look through the books she had bought. Most of them were crap and got things completely wrong, such as saying you can get rid of a vengeful spirit by saying its name three times (where in the hell did that come from). But some weren’t as bad. However, that was when Sam realized if they were going to actually do this then they would need Bobby’s books from the safe house. He managed to doze off for a couple of hours until Violet woke him up. He opened his eyes to see her sitting on the coffee table with unshed tears.  
“How much did you read?” He asked quietly.   
“I got through the first couple of books, but it was enough for right now.” She took a deep breath. “How in the hell are you alive, Sam?”  
He shook his head. “Miracles and Dean.”  
“I really like him. Or what I’ve read about him.” She mended.  
“You do?”  
She nodded vigorously. “I would’ve loved to have someone like him in my life.”  
She crawled onto the couch next to him and he wrapped his arms protectively against him. “He would have liked you, too.”  
“Sam,” She started slowly, “where’s the Impala?”  
“Locked up in a building about three hours from here. Why?”  
“We should go get it and bring it here.”  
Sam froze. “Violet, I’m not sure if I’m ready.”  
“Sam Winchester, the guy who has died multiple times, stopped the apocalypse, and has saved the world countless other times can do anything.” She threaded her fingers through his. “Besides, I think it would be therapeutic.”  
Sam felt his breath quicken and his heart pound loudly against his chest. He quickly stood from the couch and began pacing the floor, ignoring Violet’s questioning eyes.   
“Violet, this lifestyle is real, not from a book. It’s scary, it’s bloody and it’s deadly.”  
“I understand that.”  
“No you don’t! God!” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Why in the world are you wanting to do this?”  
“Because I love you.”  
Sam froze for his moment as his face paled. “You love me?”  
“Yes.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Isn’t it obvious?”  
He shook his head in denial. “You don’t love me. You think you do because you have this idea that I’m some good superhero. I have fucked up so many times, Violet! I will keep fucking up.”  
“No I don’t love you.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. She walked up to him and began jabbing her finger into his chest. “I don’t love you because you’re kind, loyal, self-sacrificing. No I don’t love you because you stop on the street to help out little children. Or how you tuck me into bed when I’ve had a bad day. I can’t love you because when you care about someone, you give them yourself completely. And let’s talk about the way you treat friends as if they’re family, even risking your life for theirs. No possible way I could love you because you’re always trying to do the right thing.” She took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears. “Love isn’t even the option for how I feel when your hand is holding mine or how you hold me in your arms. Not even possible since the moment you walked into my life I’ve felt more alive than I’ve felt in years. So no, I don’t love you Sam Winchester.”  
Sam felt his heart stop as he watched her. This woman loved him. Despite everything, the good and the bad, she loved him. No woman has known his deep dark secrets and still wanted to be with him. Hell, he’d never given them the chance to know the bad. And the one time he did, this miraculous woman still loved him. He felt a small smile creep on his face.  
“I can’t love you either.” He countered. “It’s insane to love a woman who is constantly giving her fortune to others. Loving you is an insane idea since you trust me with everything you’ve got. Or talk about how you take in strangers to make their lives better. How could I love a woman who is so curious about everything, even things that could get her killed? Or who thinks the world would be better if elephants were pink? The woman who gets excited over tacos and Adam Sandler movies?” He snorted playfully. “Can’t possibly love her. Not to mention how she feels when I hold her at night and how she lessens the dark things in my mind. It’s crazy, stupid to love the girl whose laugh is so honest that it humbles me. Let’s not forget to add that I haven’t felt this way since Jess died. So no, I don’t love you either, Violet Donaldson.”  
She jumped into his arms, holding onto him for dear life. Sam started breathing normal again, the light in his heart getting brighter. Maybe they were stupid and crazy for being in love with each other, especially since both of them were messed up beyond reasoning. But right now, he wouldn’t change any of it.  
*****************************************************************************************************************************  
Sam paused a moment before zipping up his duffel bag. Leaving the apartment felt like the worst decision in his life, but there were things he needed to do. Violet waited for him by the kitchen counter, biting her lip and fiddling with her fingers.  
“It’s only for the weekend,” Sam reminded her, taking her face in his hands.  
“I know,” She sighed. “You need to do this. Still, it’s the first time we’ve been apart.”  
“You know I’m coming back, right?”  
She nodded. “I would stake my life on it.”  
He kissed her quickly before grabbing his bag. “Did you call the tow truck?”  
“Yeah, they’ll drop the Impala off here tomorrow afternoon.” She tossed him the keys to her Jeep. “You’ll call me when you get there?”  
“Of course. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” He knew it was pointless to say this. He could come back and Violet could have the apartment turned into a hunting dungeon.  
“Never.” She swore with a smile. “I’m just going to do some school work. I still feel bad about us quitting the diner.”  
Sam smiled gently. “You were right about there being more pressing matters than trying to have a normal life.”  
She reached up and gave him one last kiss. “I love you, Sam.”  
“I love you too. Be good!”  
If he only knew.  
********************************************************************************************************************************  
Sam knew the best way to find Kevin was to kidnap an upperlevel demon. He had told Violet he had a plan of sorts, but it required him to be at the safe house. To be honest, he just didn’t want her to be at risk. As he entered the cabin in Whitefish, Montana, he felt it all was over him. Everything was still here the way they had left it when they went to go kill Dick. Sam grimaced at the moldy sandwiches and the cobwebs on the beer cans. He tried to keep his mind from drifting to Cas and Dean by calling Violet.  
“Hi!” She answered breathlessly.  
“Hey,” He replied cautiously. “What were you doing?”  
“Um, cleaning. Did you get there okay?”   
“Yeah,” Sam said quietly. “It’s like déjà vu.”  
“It’s going to be okay, I promise. We’re going to get through this.”  
He smiled slightly. “What would I do without you?”  
“Probably turn into a regular elephant.”  
When Violet hung up with Sam, her heart filled with guilt. She would tell him the truth when he got home, she swore. Right now, he would’ve freaked out. So instead of worrying about it, she decided to take a quick shower and browse through some of her books.   
*****************************************************************************************************************************  
Sam arrived back at the apartment late Sunday night. His mind and body was sore with the events he had to go through. The lights were already off at the apartment and he knew Violet was already in bed. His mind couldn’t help but flash to the night Jess had been killed, but he had to convince himself that this time was different. He found her stretched out in there bed, her hair covering both pillows. He chuckled silently as he stretched out beside her, still in his filthy clothes. She turned towards him with her eyes still closed and mumbling something.  
“Go back to sleep, sweetie.” He whispered, running his fingers through her hair.  
“No, you’re here.” She lifted her head and opened her eyes. “You’re back.”  
“You sound really relieved.”  
“Of course I am.” She snuggled deeper onto his chest. “I realized I don’t like being apart from you.”  
“I don’t either,” Sam sighed with relief.   
“Did everything go as planned?”  
“You could say that,” Sam remarked dryly. “Just get some sleep. We’ll talk about it in the morning.”  
“But!”  
“Violet, it’s been a difficult past three days. I just want to get some sleep in our bed and hold you.”  
“Can’t argue with that.”  
Sam listened to her steady breaths before falling asleep himself. He woke up by eight the next morning to find that Violet was already out of the bed. He could smell the coffee brewing in the kitchen and the news playing in the background as Violet walked around the apartment. Couldn’t they just stay like this for the rest of their lives? Sam shook himself out of his reverie when something crashed in the living room. He rushed out to see Violet shutting the spare bedroom door forcefully.  
“What’s going on?” He asked with a yawn.  
“Um, nothing!” She smiled forcefully and began to pick up the pieces to the broken lamp. “I just had one of my moments.”  
“Uh huh, sure.” Sam rolled his eyes and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Let me do that, you’ll cut yourself.”  
“Sam, I can get it.” He ignored her as he started picking up the pieces himself before throwing them in the trash.   
“So,” He started once they both sat down with their coffee. “What did you do without me?”  
“No way! You go first!”  
Sam sighed, concentrating on his coffee. “Well, I packed up all of Bobby’s books, they’re in the Jeep.”  
“And?” She persisted.  
“And I think I have an idea on how we can get Kevin back, but it’s risky.” Sam was about to continue when there was another crash in the spare bedroom. “Violet?”  
“Okay, okay!” She groaned and went to open the door to the bedroom. Sam was surprised to see a happy-go-lucky black and white pit bull trot out of the room and jump right beside him on the couch.  
“Um, Violet, do you want to explain?” Sam asked as the dog began sniffing him.  
“You were gone for only three hours and I got lonely.” She wailed as she sat beside the dog. The dog immediately curled itself and laid its head in her lap. It was such a natural thing that Sam began to freak out slightly.  
“I went to the shelter,” she continued, “and as soon as I saw him I fell in love. I figured there are going to be times where we’re apart and when we are I would like some company.”  
Sam sighed as he hesitantly reached out to pet the dog. The dog listed its head for a moment to give him a wary stare before it laid its head back on her lap.   
“A pit, though?” Sam asked.  
“Hey, he’s nothing but a big baby.” Violet defended. “His name is Piglet, by the way.”   
Sam couldn’t hold back his chest shaking with laughter. “Piglet? Why are you castrating the poor animal?”  
“His name was already Pig when I adopted him, but I felt that was too harsh so Piglet it was!” She cooed at the dog and scratched it behind its ears.  
“Piglet it is then,” Sam muttered, slowly petting the dog and watching its tail wag. “Anything else you want to share?”  
She bit her lip and looked at him hesitantly. “Only if you promise you won’t get mad.”  
“No promises, Violet.” He warned softly.  
“Fine.” She stood and began pacing, the dog following her each movement. “I started taking a self-defense class, I went to a shooting range and started practicing some more, and I quit school.”  
“What?” He yelled. Sam sorted it through his mind, trying to figure out which one to process more. “Let’s start with the first one. Why a self-defense class?”  
“Sam, you won’t always be here to protect me. I need to make sure something else doesn’t get the jump on me like last time. That was also the reason I went to the shooting range.”  
“Okay,” Sam said slowly. “Are you wanting to become a hunter?”  
She snorted. “Sam, I have no idea what I’m doing anymore. I just want to be prepared.”  
“And school?” He asked quietly seething.  
“Look,” she took a deep breath. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, but my life is with you now. So if you wake up one morning and decide you want to start hunting again, then I want to be there beside you with nothing holding us back. Plus, all our concentration needs to be on finding this teenage prophet before he gets even more scarred for life.”  
Sam ran his hands over his face. “I didn’t want this for you.”  
“I know, but I want it.” She sat back down beside him and took his hand in hers. “Now, why don’t you tell me what happened with you?”  
“How about we go and get the research material instead and then we’ll talk about my stupid idea.”  
She agreed even though she knew there was a slim chance they would talk about it. They brought in Bobby’s things and spread them out over the kitchen table. He watched her drool over books that should be in museums. He tried to concentrate on the task, but his mind kept wondering to the weekend.   
He had kidnapped a crossroad’s demon. Not an easy thing to do, especially since he was rusty, but he had managed. He had tortured the demon for twenty-four hours straight and all he had gotten was that Crowley had ‘special’ plans for Kevin. The only thing he could think to do was to keep kidnapping demons until they got information.   
“Did the Impala get here okay?” He finally asked, leaning back in his chair.  
“Yep,” Violet was flipping through one of the books with wide eyes.   
“You looked into the trunk didn’t you?” He guessed.  
“Of course, don’t you know who I am by now?” She snorted, not lifting her eyes.  
“What did you think?”  
“That you and you’re brother are the most prepared people in the world.” Violet didn’t have to look up to know that Sam had flinched. She was dreading about what she was wanting to bring up, but it was gnawing at her mind. “Sam, can I ask you a question?”  
“Of course,”  
She pushed the book away and reached for his hand. “Did you see Dean die?”  
“What?”  
“Did you see him die? Look, I know this is going to be tough, but just bear with me.”  
Sam took a deep breath and grasped her hand tightly. “No, he and Cas disappeared after they ganked Dick.”  
“Right,” She held tightly when he tried to pull away. “That’s why I don’t think he’s dead.”  
Sam stuttered for a few moments. “Okay, you’ve known about the supernatural world for only a few weeks, what makes you such an expert on things I’ve been doing my whole life?”  
She raised an eyebrow at his anger. “I’m just pointing out options, Sam.”  
“You know nothing about these things!” Sam yelled, jerking his hand away. “You’re acting so calm and collected like you would be able to handle this life. Hell, you act like this is the life you want!”  
Instead of responding to his sudden burst, Violet stood and sat down in his lap. She ran her fingers through his hair as her eyes searched his face.  
“Sam, we tried to whole normal thing and a demon found you anyways. And what do you think is going to happen once we find Kevin?”  
Sam sighed and rested his forehead against her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”  
“We’ll get it figured out.” She whispered softly.  
“I don’t want to lose you, too.”  
“I’m staying, Sam. You had me the minute you saw me.”  
He kissed her gently. “Now, what was you saying about Dean?”  
“I was just thinking about what you said about how the Leviathans were pulled from Purgatory. That’s where they go when they die, right?”  
Sam nodded, not being able to muster words.  
“What if Dean and Cas are in Purgatory?”  
Sam stilled. “Even if they are, they’re still dead.”  
“If there’s anything about the Winchester’s, it’s that they don’t stay dead.” She smiled coyly.   
God, how true that statement was. “We’ll look into it after we find Kevin. Okay?”  
“Deal!”  
“Do you-“ Sam took a deep breath. “Do you want to hunt?”  
She tilted her head as she thought. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep us together. If that means facing people’s worst nightmares, then I’m going to do it.”  
“This isn’t going to be easy.” Sam warned.  
“I don’t expect it to be.”   
He watched as she looked down at Piglet who was sitting by them. His eyes focused on her face as she cooed at the dog with such happiness and even managed to giggle despite the situation. The light from the sunrise was shining through the windows and lit up her face. That was when he knew what to do.   
“Marry me,” Sam said suddenly.  
Violet gasped, her eyes going wide. “What?”  
“Marry me,” He repeated. “Look, bad things always happen before I can do what I want to do. I don’t want to waste another opportunity. In case everything goes wrong, I want to say that I got to marry you.”  
She sat there stunned. “Are you sure this isn’t just a last minute panic thing?”  
Sam chuckled. “No, it’s definitely not that. I would’ve asked you this question even if we weren’t getting into this life. I want to marry you, Violet.”  
He waited in fear as she just looked at him. Several aching minutes passed before a smile illuminated her face. She stood up and held her hand for his.  
“Where are we going?” He asked as she led them to the door.  
“We are going to drop Piglet off with a friend of mine and then we are going to Vegas.”  
Sam grinned. “You want to do this now?”  
“No time like the present!”  
“If I tell you what happened the last time I was in Vegas, will you get mad?”  
“Probably,” she shrugged. “But it sounds like a good story for the plane ride.”


	8. A Plan

Sam held Violet tightly as they lay in their hotel suite. He was married. Again, but they had decided to ignore the crazy Becky incident. She rested her head against his chest, playing with the new ring on her finger. He thought back to when they arrived at Vegas she had insisted on getting married by an Elvis impersonator. That was after they stopped at a tattoo shop so she could get her official tattoo. His fingers lightly caressed the bandage on her left shoulder.  
“How does it feel?” He asked.  
“Eh, I’ll survive. Well, only with lots of sex and ice cream.”  
Sam chuckled. “Really?”  
“Mhm! The tattoo artist said the only way I could live through it is if I had lots of sex with my new husband and eat ice cream every day.”  
“You’re something, you know that?” He looked down at her, fascinated by the moonlight on her face.  
“That’s why you married me.”  
“This is true, Mrs. Winchester.”  
**************************************************************************************************************************  
“So, Piglet really likes this place!” Violet laughed as she walked back into the cabin.   
Sam looked up from his books to grin at her. “I figured that’s why it was taking so long.”  
“It wasn’t me that was peeing on every tree.” She took off Piglet’s leash and the dog immediately ran for the couch.   
“You ready?” Sam stood up, rubbing his hands together.  
She nodded, though she was biting her lip. “I gotta do it sometime, right?”  
“Alright, but with demons,”  
“Holy water,” she interrupted, “which we already have gallons of. Plenty of salt. The demon knife is tucked beside you. And the exorcism, which you’ve been making me memorize since our wedding night. Anything else?”  
Sam smirked. “I’ll make a hunter out of you yet.”  
They drove to the crossroads and Violet went over the plan in her head more times than she could count. By the time they got there, it was already night. Sam hid like it was planned and she took the box to the crossroads. She buried the box, praying this wasn’t as insane as it seemed.  
“Well, well. What can I do for you?”  
Violet looked up at the beautiful woman in front of her. “Are you a…”  
The woman’s eyes flashed colors. “I’m the woman you’re looking for. What can I do for you?”  
“This was a stupid idea!”  
Violet began walking hastily to her jeep, but the woman walked at a leisurely pace behind her. “Oh come on now.”  
“No, I can’t!” Violet yelled.  
“Let me guess,” They paused at Violet’s car, the woman grinning deviously. “You want a loved one back?”  
Violet hesitated. “You can do that?”  
“Of course, dear. Who is it?”  
Violet felt her heart pounding in my chest. “What happens if I ask you to…”  
The woman’s grin became larger. “You get ten years sweetie. Ten years with the person you love so much.”  
“And you get?”  
“Just your soul,” the woman shrugged. “But honestly, you won’t even know it.”  
Before Violet could actually be tempted into the deal, Sam appeared and yanked a bag with traps on it over the demons head. He gave her a curious look before they fought to put the struggling demon in the car. Violet refused to think about that she might have said yes.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
Violet sat on the table in the basement as Sam grilled the demon stuck in the chair. The demon laughed at all his attempts and made sure they were getting nowhere. Violet had flinched several times when Sam had either splashed the demon with holy water or cut into her with the demon knife.   
“What does Crowley want with Kevin?” Sam repeated.  
“Why would I tell you, sugar plum?” The demon sneered. “Either way I’m dead. You either kill me or Crowley does.”  
Violet lifted her head and stepped in beside Sam. “Crowley’s the King of Hell, right?”  
“Gold star for you, pumpkin!”  
Violet ignored the jab. “So, I wonder whose torturous death would be worse, ours or his?”  
The demon paled. “What are you talking about?”  
“Think about this,” Violet smiled softly. “We could keep you here till we get Kevin. And wouldn’t it be unfortunate that after we find him if we were to let it slip that you were the one that led us to him?”  
“You couldn’t…”  
“And,” Violet continued. “It would also be unfortunate if we were to hand you over to him afterwards. Wonder what he would do to someone who betrayed him that much? Probably worse than death.”  
Sam looked at Violet with wonder. She just stepped in like she belonged in this life. Or maybe it was because she belonged with him that she just fit in.  
The demon growled. “What do you want to know?”  
“Where is Kevin?”  
“Promise you’ll kill me?”  
“We swear, and it will be quick.”  
Violet walked out of the room to let Sam finish up. She had to admit, she was proud of herself. Though, she was shaking all the way to her bones. She sat on the couch beside Piglet and forced her eyes shut when she heard the woman let out one last piercing scream. She buried her face in Piglet’s neck and listened as Sam took the poor dead body outside to bury it. Hours later when he came back in, he sat beside her and pulled her into his arms.  
“That was great thinking,” he muttered into her hair.  
“Thank you,” she smiled weakly. “Did we get what we need?”  
He nodded. “Are you going to be okay?”  
“I’m not sure,” she replied honestly.  
“You can still back out if you want,” Sam offered.  
“No way.” Violet grabbed his hand. “I’m with you all of the way, Mr. Winchester.”  
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”  
********************************************************************************************************************************  
“I have a plan, but don’t get mad!” Violet warned him as she walked out of their room. Two days back at the apartment and she was already wanting to go back into the crazy world.  
“Violet, you know there are no promises to that.” Sam leaned against the couch with folded arms. He never knew what to expect with his new wife.  
“Then just promise to hear me out?” She compromised, earning a slow nod from Sam. “Our main issue with going and getting Kevin is Crowley, right? So what if I summoned him some place and keep him occupied while you go and get Kevin?”  
“Hello no! There are so many things wrong with that plan I don’t even know where to begin!”  
“Like what?”  
“Like leaving you alone with Crowley. He is…he’s King of Hell, Violet! And you think you could handle being alone with him?”  
“Ten minutes,” She muttered.  
“What?”  
“Ten minutes is all we really need, fifteen if we push it. You get to the location, let me know as soon as you get there, I summon him and get him out of the way.”  
Okay, not too bad. “How do you plan on keeping him from killing you?”  
“He’ll be curious on why I summoned him. I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me. I think I can distract him for that long and then get the hell out of there when you give the okay.”  
Sam gritted his teeth. “There will be more than one demon protecting Kevin. I’m not even sure if I can do this.”  
“Do you know any other hunters?”  
Sam balked. “Yeah, but none of them are going to want to go to their death.”  
“Offer them five grand a peace, ten if you know you can trust them and if they’re really good.”  
“You have to be kidding me.” Sam closed his eyes in frustration.  
Violet walked up to him and gently caressed his chest. “Sam, I want Kevin here and safe. I don’t know him, but what I do know what is like to be that age and to be terrified. I also know from what you told me, that kid needs a break. He’s part of your family, which means he’s part of mine.”  
Sam sighed. “You’re going to give me gray hair.”  
She grinned. “That was the plan the minute you married me.”  
“We’ll get a couple of hunters to stay with you, just in case of emergency.”  
“Can’t argue with that.” She shrugged.  
“First person we should call is Garth.”  
“Whose poor soul is named Garth?”


	9. Show Me The Kevin

Chapter Nine  
Violet smoothed out Sam’s shirt, avoiding his eyes. They were standing in an abandoned cement building with two other hunters who didn’t even introduce themselves to her. These two were staying with her while Garth and three other hunters went with Sam. The devil’s traps were already drawn and so were several other’s along the wall. Sam had already prepared the summoning spell and went over it with her multiple times.  
“You worried?” He asked loud enough for only her to hear.  
“Yes and no. I’m not worried about my end, only yours.” She looked up at him with wounded eyes. “Just promise to come back to me. I know we don’t do the promise thing, but just this once.”  
Sam nodded. “I promise I will come back. I’ll come back with Kevin.”  
“You better get going.” She smiled wanly.  
He kissed her until she was breathless then walked away. Leave it to Sam Winchester to kiss a woman like she’s never been kissed and walk away. It was an agonizing wait, one that left Violet sitting on the floor biting her nails. The other hunters waited outside the building until she would call them. If this is what it took to get their lives together, then she had to be strong. It seemed like forever until she finally got a text from Sam telling her to do the summoning spell. With shaky hands, she did what she had been taught.   
“Well, this is a surprise.”  
Violet didn’t know if she was relieved or terrified at the little British man in a suit that appeared in her devil’s trap. He held what she assumed was a glass of whiskey and looked at her with skeptical eyes.  
“Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?” He asked politely.  
“You’re Crowley? King of Hell?” Her voice was small and weak, making her curse herself.  
“In the flesh, darling. Now, who the hell are you?”  
“Violet,” She replied through clenched teeth.   
“Well Violet dear, shall we talk about why you summoned me or should I get to killing you?”  
“You’re in a devil’s trap, you can’t do anything.”  
He lifted his eyebrows. “I could always call my pups.”  
Violet paled and tried not to shake. She remembered what Sam had said about helllhounds. Instead of replying, she whistled and Piglet trotted from a pile of boxes he had been sleeping on and sat beside her expectantly.   
“I have my own, thank you very much.” She said with fake bravado.   
“He is rather beautiful, I’ll give you that.” Crowley said as he observed the dog. “But mine are bigger.”  
“Then why haven’t you called them yet?”  
“Call it curiosity.” He shrugged. “How do you know me, Violet?”  
“A little birdy with odd eyes told me about you.” She smirked.  
“I wondered where she went,” He remarked as he walked around the trap. “What do you want with little ol’ me?”  
“Who says it’s you?” She sneaked a glance at her watch. Just a few more minutes.   
Crowley’s eyes narrowed at her. “I think I may like you, but I have a feeling that you’re bait.”  
“You could say that.” She fiddled on her feet. “King of Hell, huh? What’s that like?”  
Crowley smiled. “It’s hell, darling. Now, I’m going to make a tiny suggestion, you either let me go and we forget this nonsense or I sick my pups on you.”  
She shrugged. “I can’t do that, sorry.”  
Amusement left his face. “What’s going on here?”  
“You’ll find out soon, I promise.”  
“I’m going to take a stab at it.” He analyzed her with his eyes until they fell to her hands. “I’m going to say you’re working with my moose.”  
“Excuse me?” Violet’s face faltered.  
“Moose, gigantor,” He continued before rolling his eyes. “Sam Fucking Winchester.”  
She grimaced. “I’m pretty sure that’s not his middle name.”  
“Tell me, why are you working with Sam and why he isn’t here?”  
Violet rushed through her mind. She could lie, tell the truth, or…use this to her advantage. Her eyes lit up as she realized what she could do.  
“It’s not him I’m working with,” she fibbed. “I’m here about Dean.”  
To say the demon was shocked was an understatement. “Dean? Haven’t seen him since the big Dick incident.”  
“That’s what I want to know.” She paced slowly. “See, Dean and I had a thing not too long ago.”  
“Never heard anything about it.”  
“Then you need to update your gossip magazine.” She smirked. “Anyways, I ran into Sam a few days ago and he told me what happened. It all sounds a little fishy to me.”  
“Fishy how?”  
“Let’s just say I don’t think he’s dead.”  
“Now why would you think that?”  
“Let’s call it a hunch. The reason I called you here was just to see if you know anything. No fighting, no killing.”  
“Really?” He asked skeptically.  
“Look, if I were to attempt to kill the King of Hell I would most likely just get myself killed and I like living as much as the next person. Second, hell with a ruler is already, well, hell. I can’t imagine what would happen if the ruler was gone and demons were left to themselves. Sounds like chaos to me.”  
Crowley took a sip of his drink. “You know, I think I do like you.”  
“I would say it’s mutual but my reputation would be trashed.” Violet mentally patted herself on the back. Sam was going to be so proud of her! “So, what do you know about Purgatory?”  
“Bloody hell,” He cursed. “First I have an angel screw me over with that mess and then he lets out God’s rejects. I’m not touching Purgatory again!”  
“I don’t want to get into Purgatory,” she snapped, “I just want to know if it’s possible that when Dean killed Dick if he could have been zapped to Purgatory?”  
Crowley clicked his tongue and looked away. “Even if squirrel and his screwed up lover got turned into Purgatory food, there’s no way to get them out of there.”  
“But is it possible they’re in there?” She persisted.  
“Yes!” Crowley snapped. “Now, there’s your answer so let me go before I turn you into puppy chow!”  
She snuck another glance at her watch. She had given Sam and the hunters more than enough time. She pulled out a knife.  
“All you had to do was ask.”  
She scrapped away part of the trap. She thought maybe the King of Hell would back out on his word (he was a demon), but he had already vanished. Well, she had done her part.  
**************************************************************************************************************************************  
Violet sat on the couch in the safe house with Piglet whining beside her. Her head was in her hands as she made silent prayers for safety. She still hadn’t heard from Sam and worry was gnawing at her heart. Her ring seemed to burn on her finger. When the door to the cabin opened, she was up and had her gun out in front of her. Yet when she saw Sam standing safe and sound in front of her, she dropped it and ran into his arms. They both let out their breaths.   
“My god that was terrifying!” Violet said against his chest.   
“Did something happen with Crowley?” Sam panicked.  
“No, no that went better than okay. I was just worried about you.” Violet forced herself to take a deep breath. “Where’s Kevin?”  
“I’m Kevin.”  
Violet pulled out of Sam’s arms to see a young man standing shakily behind Sam. Even though this kid wasn’t much younger than herself, Violet wanted to take him in her arms and tell him that everything was going to be okay. But she could tell that he wouldn’t like it by the cautious looks he was giving her.  
“Kevin, this is Violet.” Sam introduced them. “My wife.”  
Kevin looked at Sam with wide eyes. “Wife? I was kidnapped and you got married?”  
Sam flushed and looked ashamed, so Violet spoke up for him. “We were trying to figure out how to get you back. Sometimes things just happen that you don’t plan.”  
Kevin didn’t reply, only moved closer to Sam.   
“Great,” Violet muttered. “How about you boys go get cleaned and rested up while I make some dinner?”  
Kevin walked away and went into one of the bedrooms. Violet grimaced at the poor young man. Sam, though, pulled her into his arms.   
“Demons are going to be coming after him now more than ever.” Sam mentioned.   
“That’s to be expected.”  
“What happened with Crowley?”  
She bit her lower lip. They had enough excitement for one day. “Nothing really. He made some threats, I made some threats, then we agreed if I let him go then all was well.”  
Sam looked skeptical but didn’t push it any further. Violet decided she would tell him in the next couple of days so they could get started on finding Dean and Cas. Dinner between the three of them was less than a quiet affair. Sam told Kevin about everything that had happened after Dean killed Dick. Kevin asked only a few questions, but after dinner he looked at Violet with mild appreciation. Sam and Violet had silently agreed not to ask Kevin what Crowley had wanted him for, both thinking the poor kid needed at least a day to get himself together.   
Later that night, Sam slept with Violet in his arms and had what he thought was a wonderful dream. Him and Violet had a small house out in the country, Piglet was constantly running around in the backyard. Dean and Lisa had a house down the road and they had weekend dinners where Sam and Dean would play football with Ben. Castiel switched between both of their houses, but he loved to stay at theirs the most because Violet was always patient to explain things to him that he didn’t understand. Kevin was coming to visit because it was Christmas and Violet loved to splurge on him more than anyone else. The best part about the dream was Violet pressing his hand against her swollen stomach and laughing when he felt the kick.   
Sam woke up right when they had all been sitting in their living room with smiles on their faces. He looked at Violet as she slept curled against him. Why couldn’t they have that?


	10. Why

“So, this is your room.” Violet stood in the doorway as Kevin silently observed the spare bedroom. “I know it’s not much right now, but maybe if you feel up to it, tomorrow we can…”  
“Why are you doing this?” Kevin interrupted.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Why do you care so much? You took Sam in when he could’ve been a killer, risked your life to save me, and now you’re letting me stay in your apartment when demons are going to be coming after us.” Kevin sat on the bed, his head in his hands.  
“It’s because I care.” She replied softly. She sat beside him on the bed and placed a nervous hand on his back. “Look, I know what it’s like to be scared and have nowhere to go. From what Sam told me, you could have had a spectacular, and perhaps stressful, life. But you were pulled into the supernatural.”  
“Then why are you going willingly?” Kevin looked at her hesitantly.  
“It’s what you do when you love someone. You help them fight their battles. You’re part of my family now, Kevin, which means I will do anything in my power to help you.”  
“Thank you,” he mumbled.  
“No problem, kid.” She stood and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead before leaving the room.  
Sam walked in with Piglet on a leash, the dog wagging his tail furiously. She became mesmerized by Sam’s gentle smile and felt her body still. When did everything line up so perfectly? She tried thinking of her life without Sam and this new chaos and it seemed so dull. Yet, she wouldn’t pass up a normal life as long as it included him and his family.   
“What’s that face for?” Sam asked, running a finger against her cheek. She knew he was feeling the scar that was now there because of their first demon encounter. She had to keep herself from grimacing every time she looked in the mirror.  
“I was just thinking about our life.”  
Sam frowned. “Regrets?”  
“No, just wishes.” She let out a gentle sigh. “There’s something I have to tell you.”  
“What is it?”  
“It’s about my talk with Crowley. He said it was possible that Dean and Castiel are in Purgatory.”  
Sam flinched. “How did you…”  
“It’s a long story. One thing is that I told him I wasn’t working with you, but now since Kevin disappeared on him at the same time, I highly doubt he will believe that. Anyways, it gives us a place to start looking.”  
“The last time Purgatory was opened…” Sam searched for the words.  
“Yeah, all hell broke loose.” Violet smiled. “I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.”  
Sam couldn’t suppress his chuckle. “So what do you think, Mrs. Winchester?”  
“Well, first I suggest I get started on dinner while you do some more protective warding.”  
“Why?”  
“Kevin got a little ansty at the lack of protection. After he goes to bed, we’ll do some research.”  
“You do know that we will eventually have to ask him what Crowley wanted him for, right?”  
“We’ll cross that bridge later.”  
Violet busied herself in the kitchen with making dinner for the two men in her life. She thought what life was going to be like once Dean and Cas were back. She refused to believe the thought that they couldn’t get them back. She almost burned the taco meat when her thoughts went on their own. She couldn’t help but to ask herself why she was doing all of this. Sure, she loved Sam and would die for him, but normal people didn’t jump into this. Maybe this is what true love is, she laughed at herself. She set the table, the two boys already making their way to the kitchen. They received the bomb in the middle of eating.  
“Crowley had a demon tablet.” Kevin let out a breath.  
Sam, almost choking, looked at Violet with wide eyes.   
“What is a demon tablet?” She finally asked.  
“I wasn’t able to study much of it.” Kevin admitted. “There was a spell on there to wipe out demons that are surrounding you, and I was working on it when you guys rescued me.”  
“Did you-did you bring it with you?” Sam asked.  
Kevin shook his head glumly. “Crowley still has it.”  
“Well, he can’t decode it without you, right?” Kevin shook his head at Violet’s question. “Then we just have to add it to our list of things to do. More chips?”  
Later that night, she was curled against Sam, but her eyes were wide and staring out the window. She knew Sam was still awake, his fingers running up and down her arm. Violet couldn’t manage the words herself. This was a world she hadn’t been prepared for, a life that seemed so far away from any other.  
“You surprise me every day. You know that?” Sam muttered against her neck.  
“How?”  
“You’re just taking everything in stride. Like this is something you were born for.”  
“Sam, I have to admit I’m shaking down to my bones.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t know how I’m doing all of this.”  
“My offer to back out will always stand.”  
She rolled over, his eyes immediately meeting hers. “I can’t and I don’t want to.”  
“Ever think about what it would be like if we had been given a normal shot?”  
“Do you think we would be happy?”  
Sam shrugged. “If everything were normal, I’m not even sure we would’ve met, let alone be together.”  
“Then I’m grateful we didn’t get a normal shot.”  
The next day, Violet drug a reluctant Kevin to the mall. The poor kid had no clothes or anything in his room. A prophet deserved things such as pants, right? He didn’t pick up anything, only eyed it warily as if this was something he couldn’t do anymore.  
“Is there anything you do want, Kevin?” She finally asked, throwing several shirts over her arm without asking if he liked them.  
“I want to see my mom.” He looked at her with watery eyes. “I want to know that she’s okay.”  
She placed a sympathetic hand on his arm. “If it’s what you want, I’ll take you to go see her.”  
He shook his head. “It’s not safe right now. But maybe when things cool down?”  
“Deal.” She grinned. “Now, let’s get some stuff for your room?”  
They made their way through the stores , getting numerous things. When they got back to the apartment, Kevin went into his room to put up his new things with a loving Piglet trailing behind him. Violet rubbed Sam’s shoulders as he straightened from the book he was reading.   
“You’ll make a great mom.” He said, his head leaning back.  
“Is that something even in the books?”  
“I don’t know. It could be.” Sam pondered. “Do you want children?”  
“Do you?”  
Sam looked away. He had, a long time ago. A time before demons and becoming addicted to their blood. Before the apocalypse and losing his soul, doing things that aren’t even redeemable. How could he be a good influence on a child?  
“Hey,” she whispered, shaking him out of his reverie. “We don’t have to think about these things right now.”  
“You deserve children.” He muttered. “A house filled with them.”  
“I deserve to be with you, no matter what that means.” She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.  
“Um, Violet?”  
She looked up to see Kevin standing in front of his room looking like a freaked out child. He was wearing a pair of tan pants she had picked up along with a red button-up shirt that was so small that his stomach showed. Apparently Violet hadn’t been paying attention where she picked things from.   
“I told you to try things on.”  
They all laughed anyways


	11. Playing Santa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying my version of Sam's life when Dean went to Purgatory. BEWARE: THIS CHAPTER IS PURE FLUFF!

“You’re going to spoil the hell out of him.” Sam rolled his eyes as Violet continued to look at other gadgets.  
“It’s my job.” She defended.  
Sam watched her with fascination. It was one week before Christmas and Violet was acting like she had never had Christmas before. But then he thought back to her parents and assumed that without her grandmother she probably hadn’t. She had declared it was time for a break for them all and was going all out for the holiday he had rarely celebrated. Each day they did research on Purgatory and still came up dry on how to get Dean and Cas out. Sam went on the occasional hunt with Garth or another hunter, and had to fight Violet about staying home to protect Kevin. She always relented where Kevin was concerned.   
“You already got him a Kindle, why are you getting him an Ipad?” Sam asked as she threw the item in the basket.  
“They’re two different things. Besides, it will allow him to have some type of fun. Do you think he needs a new laptop?” She asked, putting a finger to her chin as she stared at the computers.  
Sam chuckled. “I have a feeling he’s going to get it no matter what I say.”  
“There’s my submissive husband!”  
They went back to the apartment, keeping the presents hidden in the Impala till one of them could sneak them in when Kevin wasn’t around. But they kept their façade up with parading groceries through the door. Kevin was decorating the tree with an eager Piglet standing by his feet. Sam was amused how the dog was always around Kevin more than any of them. He guessed it was true that animals could sense emotions.   
“You guys were gone a long time.” Kevin remarked.  
Violet smiled brightly. “Grocery store was packed.”  
Sam resisted rolling his eyes. He truly did love his wife and all of her brightness. After dinner that night, Sam left Violet in their room to wrap gifts and decided to go and talk to Kevin. He needed some ideas and the kid should know what he could do. He knocked on the door and found Kevin lying on the bed with Piglet draped across his feet.  
“Can we talk?” Sam asked.  
“Sure,” Kevin shrugged and sat up. “What’s up?”  
Sam closed the door and walked away from it so he wouldn’t be heard. “I want to get Violet something for Christmas but I have no idea what to get.”  
Kevin laughed at Sam’s deadpan face. “She’s your wife, you should have some idea.”  
“I’ve never really celebrated Christmas, let alone buy a present for a wife.”  
Kevin moved Piglet and got off the bed. Sam watched him curiously as he pulled out a medium sized frame from under his bed.  
“This is what I got her.”  
Sam was impressed, to say the least. It was a picture of the three of them, one that Violet had forced them all to stand for. Yet it was enlarged and placed in a beautiful silver frame. This is exactly what Violet would love.  
“What made you think of this?” Sam wondered.  
“She keeps saying that she wanted something to put on the blank wall in the living room. And I thought…” Kevin struggled for a moment and kept his focus on the picture. “We’re a family and family’s should have photos, right?”  
Sam smiled gently. “You’re right, bud. It’s perfect.”  
“Thanks,” Kevin slid the photo back under the bed. “Whatever you get her, I suggest it mean something because you know how women are. And, make it something she wouldn’t get herself.”  
“Thanks.”  
The next day, Sam went out on his own to get his gift. He had money saved up from when they had worked at the diner, something that seemed like a lifetime ago. He refused to use Violet’s money on the gift he was getting her. He went to the jewelry store and had it all planned out.   
********************************************************************************************************************************  
Christmas came with the apartment fully decorated. Sam woke up slowly to the smell of coffee and Violet’s laugh. He walked out of the room and leaned against the doorframe. Violet was sitting at the kitchen table with Kevin, both picking at the gingerbread house she had forced them all to make. This had already been an amazing holiday without the presents. On Christmas Eve, they had all went to a homeless shelter to volunteer. They had come back home and watched A Christmas Story till they all were too tired to stand. So far, pretty awesome.  
“There you are!” Violet grinned and ran into his arms. “Merry Christmas!”  
“Merry Christmas,” he whispered, kissing her hair.   
“Get you some coffee so we can open presents!” She demanded.  
“You guys go ahead, I’ll be there in a minute.”  
Sam watched with a smile as they sat on the living room floor and began dividing up presents. Violet had given him a curious look when she saw they had each gotten her one. Sam sat down on the couch with his coffee as they watched Kevin open up his numerous presents. Sam couldn’t deny that his eyes constantly went to Violet’s face to see the joy the lit it up. Kevin took a pause of opening his presents and looked up at them.  
“You guys should go!” He insisted.  
“Sam?” Violet smiled up at him. “What are you waiting for?”  
“Alright.”   
Sam opened his first present, which was from Kevin. Sam couldn’t help but to be touched and grin at the present. It was a beautiful silver pocket knife that had a pearl handle.  
“How did you know?” Sam asked curiously.  
“Violet told me about silver being a great weapon for you guys.” Kevin smiled sheepishly.   
“Thank you, Kevin. I love it.” Sam carefully folded the knife. He knew it would come in handy while hunting.  
Violet opened her present from Kevin next. Sam was prepared for the tears as he handed her a tissue as she stared at the picture. Sam and Kevin smiled at her as she kept saying thank you, caressing their faces on the photo. After Kevin finished opening his presents, he went to his room to test them out with Piglet following behind in his new collar and bone that was larger than him. Sam hung the picture up as Violet watched him, cuddled up on the couch. Afterwards, they sat beside each other with their last presents in hand. Somehow they had both known they had wanted to open up their presents with just them.  
“You first.” Violet commanded, eyes still red from happiness.  
“Okay. “ Sam knew better to fight with her.  
Sam opened the package to find a beautiful silver watch. He pulled it out of its package and held it up, already knowing it was too expensive. He was about to lecture her on buying him such an expensive gift when she cut in.  
“Look at the back,” she insisted.  
Sam flipped it over to see the engraving. There were two times engraved on it, 3:28 p.m. and 2:12 a.m. He looked at her curiously.  
“The first one,” she explained. “was the time you walked in the diner for the first time. The second one was when we both said ‘I love you’ for the first time. Life changing moments.”  
Sam couldn’t say anything, so instead he pulled her into a kiss. If only she knew how life changing those moments had been. He pulled away and took off his new watch to replace it with his new one.   
“Thank you, I love it.” He smiled gently. “I love you.”  
“I know.” She sighed happily.  
“You’re turn.”  
She opened the gift hesitantly, looking up at him occasionally. Her gasp was audible as she opened the jewelers box to find a beautiful wedding band. The ring was silver with a braided diamond pattern.   
“I thought you deserved a better one.” He said acknowledging her plain gold band. “Plus there’s something extra on it.”  
She looked at the ring curiously until she saw the words ‘I Promise’ written inside the ring. Her eyes met his questioningly.  
“Even though we don’t do promises, there is one thing I promise.” Sam explained. “I promise to love you. I promise to love you until I’m gone, even after that.”  
“Oh Sam,”  
He took the ring, removing her old one, and slowly slipped the new one on her finger. To say it was a good Christmas was an understatement.


	12. First Hunt

Violet wasn’t sure if she heard him correctly. She could feel the hot coffee now on her feet because of clumsiness. What a shame, too, because that had been her favorite mug. One that was yellow and looked like a duck. Sam was staring at her in shock, but he didn’t know she was giving him the same look. It had been a normal morning, very typical. They woke up together, some hanky panky, then separated for showers and breakfast. She had volunteered to make breakfast because Kevin had secretly told her that Sam’s pancakes always tasted like baking soda (why baking soda, she had wondered). So she had opted for French toast. She had been humming and cooking French toast and bacon, Piglet tied to her feet like a chain ball. Then Sam had dropped the bomb.  
“I want to take you on a hunt.”   
This was how they ended up staring each other down in the kitchen. The coffee was beginning to sting her feet a little, but she ignored it. And what was that smell?  
“Violet?” Sam asked again.  
She couldn’t respond. Sam frowned and rushed behind her to turn off the stove. The bacon was now strips of charred meat. Her morning had turned from bliss to chaos in a nanosecond.  
“Violet, please say something.” Sam begged through gritted teeth. “I thought you wanted to hunt.”  
Violet forced herself to breathe deeply and close her eyes. “I do, I think. I’m still unsure on where I’m at on this who supernatural scale. I mean, I thought my position here was to be the observer and caretaker of those who actually tackle the bad guys.”  
Sam’s mouth tilted slightly. “You helped catch and interrogate a crossroads demon. You’ve been studying day after day on everything you can get your hands on. Not to mention, you trapped and had a conversation with the King of Hell. I’m sorry to break this to you, sweetie, but you turned yourself into aspiring hunter.”  
Violet’s frown increased. “What does this mean?”  
“We can keep things the way they are…” He hesitated.  
“But?”  
“But I worry about you.” His eyes met hers, they were completely solemn. “I want to know that if any time we are separated, you can take care of yourself. I want to make sure you are protected, even if that means taking you out to danger.” Sam sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I mean, what if one day I leave the house and you and Kevin are attacked by demons? Or shapeshifters? Werewolves?”  
“Sam, stop.” Violet said calmly. She placed her hands on his arms and rubbed them in a soothing motion.   
“What if-“ Sam swallowed hard. “One day I’m not going to be here, Violet. I need to know if something were to ever happen to me that you would be okay.”  
Violet softened. “So that’s what this is all about. I’ll admit Sam, I have mixed feelings about hunting. Some days I bug you about it till you scream. Other days, when I think about it my whole body freezes up. But you’re right. I’m in this now so I need to be in all the way.”  
************************************************************************************************************************************  
This was how they ended up in Montana. They had both agreed if they were hunting together, they wanted to be close to Kevin while he was staying in the safe house. In was her first time riding in the Impala, a tradition Sam said was required for her first hunt. The smell of leather and aftershave were present in the car, making it both overwhelming and comforting for Violet. She had pondered over the tapes in the car and had wanted to ask Sam if they should play one. She had decided against that action.   
“So, you want to know about the case?” Sam asked her, turning to look at her with a grin. The window was down with the wind blowing his hair around and the sun illuminated his face.  
“Sure. What is going to be my first hunting memory?”  
“A house.”  
“A house?” She raised her eyebrows. “Has it started eating children on Halloween?”  
Sam chuckled. “No. By the way, I thinking you have been watching too many cartoon movies.”  
Violet snorted in response.  
“This isn’t a pretty case, let me warn you.” Sam’s grin fell. “A young girl was attacked in an empty house. Doors were locked and everything.”  
“What did she say happened?”  
“She’s not talking.”  
“Okay,” Violet said slowly. “I’m confused.”  
“She has a little sister. The little girl claims that her sister was protecting her against the scary monster with red eyes.”  
Violet nodded. “Gotcha. What do we do first?”  
“We visit the house.”  
It was another hour before they reached the house. The neighborhood was small and quaint just like theirs. Sam pulled up against a curb across the street from the oddest looking house on the block. The rest of the homes were regular family style homes. This house was a looming Victorian home that sent chills along Violet’s spine. There was a little girl with pigtails playing with chalk on the sidewalk in front of the house.   
“Is that the younger sibling?” Violet asked.  
“I would guess so.” Sam muttered, fiddling in his pockets. “Pop quiz, what persona do we use?”  
Violet bit her lip. “Well, they’re young kids. One of them already isn’t talking and the other one normal adults wouldn’t believe. There’s no way the older kid will believe we’re FBI or anything federal. Newspaper would just be weird as hell.”  
“You’re right.” Sam acknowledged.   
“Social services,” The words tasted like metal in her mouth.  
“What? Why?”  
“She was in her home and beaten. It’s a logical conclusion that social services would want to make sure she isn’t being beaten.”  
Sam sighed. “Alright, you’re leading this.”  
Violet nodded and they walked up to the little girl. The girl’s blue eyes widened at them as she dropped her chalk and began to move away.  
“Hi, we’re not going to hurt you.” Violet said quickly with a smile. “We were wanting to talk to your sister. Is she home?”  
The little girl nodded and then ran to the front door of the house. As soon as Violet took her first step on the porch, the cold froze her to her bones. The front door opened again by a teenage girl, most likely around sixteen. She had a giant bruise around her blue eyes and a cast over her right arm.  
“Can I help you?” The girl asked hesitantly.  
“Yes,” Sam straightened. “I’m Tom Nelson and this is my associate Janet Dailey. We’re with social services. Can we have a few minutes of your time?”  
The girl nodded and opened the door wider.  
“You’re Donna Nelson, right?” Sam asked.  
“Yes.” The girl bit off as she led them into the living room.  
“What’s your little sister’s name?” Was it just Violet, or was it becoming harder to breathe?  
“Jenny.” Donna whipped around to glare at them. “What do you guys want?”  
“Just to talk.” Violet said quickly. “Where’s your mom?”  
“At work.”  
“Does she work a lot?”  
Donna shrugged but winced at the movement. “As much as anyone else.”  
“Was she at work the night this happened to you?” Sam asked quietly.  
The girl nodded quickly. “Yes, so she couldn’t have done this to me.”  
“Then who did?”  
“No one!” Donna snapped. “I fell down the stairs!”  
Violet walked closer towards the teenager, noticing the bruise peeking out of her shirt on her shoulder. “Then how did that happen?”  
The girl frown and looked at what Violet was staring. With shaky hands, Violet pulled back the girls shirt slightly to reveal a bruise in the shape of fingers.  
“You ready to tell us the truth?”  
Donne flinched back and moved to sit on the couch. Jenny came running back into the room and sat beside her sister. Violet watched with an aching heart at the way Donna immediately wrapped a protective arm around her younger sibling.  
“I don’t know who he is, or was.” Donna started off quietly. “We had just moved in a couple of weeks ago and at the beginning things seemed okay. And then weird things started happening.”  
“What kind of weird things?” Sam asked.  
“Like the lights flickering and scratching noises. Mom says it’s the wiring and that we have rats.”  
“But you don’t believe that, do you?”  
“I did until the other night.” Her eyes drifted away. “I went to check on Jenny to make sure she was asleep. I saw this man standing over her, so I screamed. He looked at me with these red eyes and his skin had this awful yellow tint. I knew he was going to try and hurt Jenny, so I ran to protect her. That was when he threw me against the wall and down the stairs. When I opened my eyes from the bottom of the stairs, he had vanished. I managed to get my phone out of my pocket and call for an ambulance.”  
“Has he come back?”  
“No, but I know he will. I don’t know how, but I do.”  
**********************************************************************************************************************************************  
Sam was unsure of how to tell Violet of what he had found out about the case. Part of him wanted to send her back with Kevin and pretend like none of this had happened. But then he knew she would never forgive him. She needed to know what this life was like, the good and the bad.   
“I found it.” Sam said hoarsely.   
Violet looked up from their takeout food. “Really? What did you find?”  
“The house originally belonged to a Noah Deveraux in 1902. He had two children that were both girls. In 1905 he died of poison.”  
“Okay, what does this all mean?”  
“He was known for…” Sam took a deep breath. “For abusing his family. Well, one family member particular: his oldest daughter. She admitted to poisoning their father because of the abuse.”  
He noticed Violet swallow hard and her eyes closed. “Anything else?”  
“Every family who has moved into that house who had children had issues. There haven’t been many families living in the house, but the older child always ended up getting hurt.”  
“Bastard,” Violet muttered under her breath.  
“What I don’t get though, is Donna said he was looking at her sister first. Why would he do that if he goes after the older children?”  
“He doesn’t go after them,” She said simply. “They are just protecting their younger sibling, just like his first daughter. I would put all my money on it.”  
That night, they packed up their things and went to the cemetery where the sick man was buried. Violet stood above the grave as she watched Sam dig and tried to control her emotions. She wanted to kick this man’s ass more than anything, yet there was something else. She was trying to figure out was going on in her head when a sudden cold chill hit her.  
“Sam, I think something’s going on.” She warned.  
“Almost there!” He grunted.  
Violet then heard it behind her. The flashlight fell out of her hand as she turned to see the man towering over her. His red eyes bore into hers. It was all there. Thrown against a wall, bruised wrists, hands around her throat. His face flashed to a familiar one. The figure before her growled before grabbing her by the arms and throwing her against the ground.  
“Violet?” Sam called.  
“I’m okay! Keep going!”  
This was a lie. The ghost came up beside her, his foot raised up to kick her. Her eyes caught sight of their bag sprawled out beside her. She quickly reached inside and pulled out the shot gun. She raised it and shot, three maybe four times. She had lost count.   
“Got the body!”  
Violet stood with her heart pounding. The man appeared before again, ready to launch at her, but he was bursting into flames. She let out a sigh of relief as the man vanished in fire and screams. She barely registered Sam wrapping her in his arms. Would she ever be free of them?


	13. Human Problems

“Charles?”  
“Yes, it’s me, Violet.”  
Violet closed her eyes as she sat at the end of her bed. She prayed Sam would continue his work with Kevin in the living room. She didn’t want to have to explain this conversation.  
“Go ahead,” she muttered. “I know you’re not calling me out of the goodness of your heart.”  
“They know where you are, Violet.” She could hear the rattle of ice in his glass. If she knew Charles, which she did, this wasn’t his first glass of alcohol today.   
“Great. Should I be planning the surprise party?” She drawled.  
“This isn’t funny.” He snapped before taking a deep breath. “Violet, speaking as both your lawyer and your friend, leave. It’s time to start over again.”  
“Charles, I can’t keep running from them. I’m married. I have a family.”  
“Violet, you and I both know that your parents are friends with some very nasty people. If you don’t run now then your new family could be dead before the end of the week.”  
Violet sighed. “I’ll figure something out and I’ll call you tomorrow with the details.”  
She hung up the phone with a heavy heart.   
***********************************************************************************************************************************  
Violet laid in bed that night with her mind drifting back to the conversation. She hadn’t told Sam or Kevin about the call. Maybe they should run, she thought, Sam is probably used to it. It’s not like they were tied down to this place. But then her eyes drifted towards her ring that was shining against the moonlight. She sat up in her bed and drew her knees to her chest. What was she thinking? She wanted to subject them to a whole new glob of mess on top of everything else? No, she needed to solve her problems herself.  
**************************************************************************************************************************************  
Sam woke up to an empty bed and suddenly knew something was wrong. There were mornings they woke up separately, but there was always noise going on in the apartment. His wife hated silence more than anything. He walked quickly into the living room to only see Kevin sitting glumly on the couch with Piglet whining beside him.  
“What’s going on? Where’s Violet?” Sam panicked.  
“She left a note,” Kevin handed him the note without looking at him.  
Sam and Kevin,  
My problems caught up with me. I’ll be back tomorrow night. If I’m not, then you have to do exactly what I say. There’s a card in the drawer beside the fridge that says Charles Bartholomew. Call him, tell him who you are and tell him I’m not back. He’ll know what to do. Try not to worry; focus on Dean and Castiel. I love you both and keep yourselves safe.  
Your Pink Elephant,  
Violet  
Sam’s hands began to shake. He only had a slight feeling of what she might be doing. He could track the GPS on her phone, but Violet had been smart and had left it on the coffee table. Whatever she was doing, she wanted to do it by herself. All he could do was hope that she came home tomorrow night.  
******************************************************************************************************************************************  
Violet opened up Charles’ office door without knocking. The nervous little man quickly hung up the phone and pushed up his wire-framed glasses. He nodded for her to sit, already reaching for his brandy.  
“I see that you didn’t take my advice.” He remarked dryly.  
“I can only run for so long, Charles.” She whispered. “There are a few things I need to settle.”  
“Such as?”  
“I need to make a will.” She smiled as Charles choked on his drink.   
Charles composed himself. “I warned you about your family’s ties…”  
“It’s not that. No, it’s about the new life I’m leading.” She swallowed hard and forced her concentration on her ring.   
“The new life you’re leading?”  
“Yes. See, there are things in this world that if I tried to explain to you, you wouldn’t believe me. Perhaps you would think I’m crazy. But let’s just say, my new husband has saved the world more than once.” She looked up to see Charles face had paled.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Would you rather know everything or would you rather stay in the dark?”  
“I have a feeling in this situation I should stay in the dark.” He muttered.   
“Alright. Anyways, with this life, if something were to ever happen to me then you might never know about it. I do want you to know ahead of time, no matter what happens to me, it was not at the hands of my husband or his family, got it?”  
“My god Violet, are you doing something illegal? You know what, don’t answer that.”  
“My plan,” she continued, “is interesting, if I say so myself. You will hear from me once every three months. If three months go by and you haven’t heard from me, then presume me dead and fulfill my will.”  
“And in this will…”  
“Everything I have will go to three people: my husband Sam Winchester, his brother Dean Winchester, and Kevin Tran.” She had considered Castiel, but he was an angel and she was pretty sure an angel would be lost at what to do with a small fortune. And since the boys would have enough, they would be able to take care of him too.  
“Who is Kevin Tran?” Charles looked like he was swimming under confusion.  
“For now, let’s just say he’s like my adopted brother. Any questions?”  
“Too many,” Charles replied and swallowed the last of his brandy.  
***********************************************************************************************************************************  
“Miss Donaldson!”  
Violet grimaced as the middle-aged maid opened the door wider for her. She was the only maid Violet had known that stayed the longest.   
“Hello,” Violet greeted politely. She stepped through the doorway, already peeling off her coat. “Where are my parents?”  
“In-in the study!” The maid flustered. “I can take you to them.”  
“No thanks, I know my way around.”  
Violet stood at the bottom of the mahogany stairs. Okay, time to do this. As she walked up, her hands flowed against the railing, memories flashing before her eyes. She could see the time her father threw her down these stairs so clearly. She passed her old room, so tempted to take a look inside but decided against it. No need to overwhelm herself. As the maid had said, both her parents were seated in the study, in a heated argument. Her mom sat like royalty in a chair in front of her fathers’ desk, while her father stood like a dictator.  
“Hello,” Violet interrupted. Their faces turned towards her, both pinched in confusion. Violet stepped bravely into the study, brave she did not feel.  
“Violet Marie Donaldson!” Her mother hissed. “Where in the hell have you been?”  
“Actually, it’s Winchester now.” Violet smirked and held up her hand.   
“You’re married?”   
“Yes, shocking to you, I know.” Violet sighed. “I came here to talk to you.”  
“Damn talking!” Her father yelled, storming up beside her. “Where is the damn money?”  
“Away from you,” Violet knew her face and voice were faltering.  
“It doesn’t belong to you!”  
“Yes it does, Grams left it to me.” She took a deep breath. “There are two things I need to tell you. One, I forgive you. I forgive you for every bruise, mark, and scream. Though you do not deserve my forgiveness, you get it.” Her eyes glared at both of her parents. “The second thing, is you better leave me alone. I’m done running. You can come after me, but I can’t promise you won’t end up dead if you do.”  
“You little bitch!” Her father seethed. He grabbed her arm in a death grip. Violet winced under the pain. Her eyes almost went to plead her mother, just like she used to do when she was a kid, but she knew that was hopeless.   
“I want that money.” Her father continued, his grip tightening. “I’m in debt to a lot of dangerous people and it’s either I die or you do!”  
Violet knew this was it. She had to stand up to them more. She was done being hurt by them and being squashed under their thumb like a bug. She could remember just barely being in her teens and being so afraid of them. But one of the things she has learned from her new life: there’s no room for fear.  
“I will only warn you once to let go of me.” She said quietly.  
“Warn me?” Her father chuckled. “You little…”  
Violet threw up her hand till it collided with her fathers’ nose. She watched him tumble back with a screech as blood poured from his nose. Her mother screamed and rushed to his side.  
“I’m not afraid of you anymore.” Violet took a deep breath. “Let me tell you something, my husband is an expert hunter, so to speak, and he’s twice your size. I can’t promise your safety if you ever come near me or send someone to kill me.”  
She turned to walk out but paused at the door. “Also, I have personally met the King of Hell, and let’s just say the both of you are going to have a great time down there.”  
Violet walked out of that house for the last time.  
*************************************************************************************************************************************  
Violet let out the breath she had been holding when she walked into the apartment. As if sensing she would be back, Sam had been waiting with open arms. He held her tightly, as if she might disappear at any moment.   
“Where did you go?” He muttered against her hair.  
“I went to see my parents.”  
He pulled back. “What happened? Did they hurt you?”  
Violet shrugged and peeled off her coat. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. I don’t think I’ll have to worry about them anymore.”  
Sam was glaring at the bruise now forming at the edge of her shirt. “Did he do that to you?”  
“Yep. But I gave him a bloody nose in return.” She smiled brightly. “I feel better, Sam. Like this weight is finally off of me.”  
He sighed, rubbing her arms gently. “Just don’t scare me like that, okay?”  
“No promises.”


	14. Surprise!

“Hello, Winchesters. It’s your favorite pal, Meg. Look, I’m cashing in the chip you owe me for helping you with the Leviathans and for watching your angel buddy when he flew the cuckoo’s nest. I just escaped from Crowley. Help me or I’ll cut your pretty necks, okay?”  
Sam grimaced at the look on Violet’s face. She hung up on the voicemail on his phone and gave him what he liked to call The Look of Danger. She folded her arms and was about to replay the voicemail when Sam stopped her.  
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” She asked through gritted teeth. “You got this voicemail three weeks ago and you didn’t tell me? Why?”  
“Because it’s not important.” He shrugged.  
“Not important!” She shrieked. Violet began picking up their mess throughout the cabin, one of her many habits.   
“Look,” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Meg’s a demon. We don’t help demons, Vi!”  
“No? Do demons help us?”  
He closed his eyes in patience. “She did a couple of things that did help us, but they were for her benefit.”  
“That doesn’t matter. We had another person to help, Sam.”  
“Demons are not people!”  
Sam watched Kevin as he slowly moved from the living room to his room in the safe house. Honestly, Sam didn’t blame the prophet one bit. This was supposed to be their time to relax and not worry about the supernatural besides looking for a way to help Dean and Castiel. If they could, Sam thought bitterly. Nine months and nothing.   
“Look, I don’t trust demons either. But maybe she could be some use.” Violet muttered. “We’ve gotten nowhere with trying to find Dean and Castiel.”  
“That doesn’t mean we should turn to them. We won’t make that mistake.”  
Violet sighed. “If you think it’s what we should do.”  
“I do. Meg’s not our problem right now."  
*********************************************************************************************************************************  
A loud crash followed by yelling is what woke Violet up in the middle of the night. She fished for her clothes in the darkness before running into the living room. She saw Sam standing there with his stoic expression with a shorter woman stood in front of their no-longer-standing door. The woman was bloody with matted blonde hair. She also looked like she was about to skin Violet’s husband alive.  
“What’s going on?” Kevin asked through closed eyes as he stepped out of his room.  
“Nothing.” Violet said without taking her eyes off the strange woman. She gently pushed Kevin back into his room. “Put a line of salt in front of your door and get out your emergency gun. And do not come out unless we say so!”  
“What? Violet, what’s…”  
“Just do as I say!” She never yelled at Kevin, which explained his amazed expression. Yet, he did as she asked.   
“Who’s the chick?” The strange woman asked when Violet made her appearance in the living room.  
Sam turned to her, prepared to defend her. “Go back into the room.”  
“No,” she whispered, talking closer to the woman. Her voice had sounded so familiar. “Who is she?”  
“No one,” Sam gritted.  
“No one?” The woman laughed without humor. “If it wasn’t for me, all three of you would have been dead! I took bullets for you guys and you didn’t even look for me!”  
“Meg…”  
“Meg?” Violet’s eyebrows rose. She let out a low whistle. “This was not what I pictured.”  
“And who the hell are you?” Meg demanded again.  
“I’m Violet, his wife.”  
Meg’s grin grew. “So Moose finally got a leash, huh? Dean-o was okay with this?”  
Violet turned to Sam. “You didn’t tell her about Dean and Cas?”  
“I didn’t have time! She tore down our door and started talking about killing us before I could get a word in.”  
That was an issue they needed to fix, Violet mused. “Castiel and Dean disappeared when Dick was killed.”  
“How does Peaches know all about this? I thought you wanted the normal life away from all the scary things like me?” Meg chuckled.  
Sam’s Bitch Face appeared. “None of this is your business, Meg.”  
She snorted. “Like it or not, Sam, you guys have always been my business. And this was before featherbrains.”  
“Okay,” Violet said slowly. “We think they may by in Purgatory. There’s a chance we can get them back but we don’t know how. Can you help us?”  
“Help them? Again?” Meg shook her head. “Every time I help pretty boy here, I get nothing in return except torture. Right now I would be happy just cutting up all your pretty faces.”  
“You’re in a trap, Meg.” Sam stated. “We’d kill you before you kill us.”  
Her face sobered. “What would I get if I help you?”  
“The gift of life.” Violet rolled her eyes. “Look, I don’t know your past that well, or even theirs for that matter, so I’m kind of unbiased.”  
“You do realize you’re married to a hunter, right?” Meg snorted. “All of them are backstabbing dicks.”  
“Well, I’m not a hunter.” She reasoned. “My word is my word.”  
“Violet,” Sam warned. “I don’t trust her. She would cut out our hearts before even entertaining the thought of helping us.”  
“Oh, Sam.” Meg cooed. “Haven’t you realized I invested in Angel Stock? If I get him back then I have my nuclear weapon again and finally kill that smarmy dick Crowley.”  
“See?” Violet brightened. “She needs us as much as we need her!”  
Sam bent and slowly scrapped away the devil’s trap. “I’ll make you a hex bag that will hide you from Crowley. But after that, I want you gone and don’t come back unless you have information that can help us.”  
Meg smiled sweetly. “If you had just done this in the first place it would have moved a lot faster.”  
******************************************************************************************************************************************  
Violet didn’t expect what had happened to end up in a fight. After Sam had made Meg a hex bag, she had vanished without another word. Violet and Sam had went to bed with no other words, but Violet hadn’t thought anything of it. Yet, the next morning Sam was quietly packing their things with a look of barely contained rage.  
“What’s going on?” Violet asked calmly.  
“Nothing.” He snapped, organizing more books.  
“Don’t lie to me, please.”  
“Fine!” He snapped around to stare at her. “It bothers…no, it pisses me off that you’re not listening to me.”  
“What do you mean?” Her eyebrows knitted in confusion.   
“You seem to have it all in your head that you can handle all this, but the truth is you don’t think! I’ve been doing this my whole life, Violet! You need to understand why I say not to do things. I have more experience than you!”  
“Is this because of Meg?”  
“Of course it’s because of Meg!” He yelled. “She’s going to betray us before even attempting to help us?”  
“Then why didn’t you just go ahead and kill her, huh?” She yelled back. “You didn’t have to listen to me.”  
“You’re right, but I did. And now it’s probably going to cost us.” He muttered quietly.  
“What? Are you saying…”  
“I’m saying that you’re my weakness. I’ll admit that you’ve had some good ideas before in the past, but…”  
“But?” She demanded through clenched teeth.  
“But if I want to find Dean and Cas then I can’t keep making stupid mistakes. I can’t keep worrying about you and training you for hunting. Now I have to worry about cleaning up this whole mess with Meg and preparing myself for her to get the jump on us.”  
“So you’re saying I’m a responsibility? I thought I was your wife!”  
“You’re both.” He took a deep breath. “And one of those I don’t need.”  
Violet closed her eyes on the wave of pain that hit her. Her heart felt like it was trying to bust out of her chest, trying to touch Sam’s again like it had once done.  
“Then where do you want to go from here?” She asked, though she didn’t want to.   
“I think we should take a break.” He was focusing on the floor instead of her eyes.  
“For how long?” The tears fell down against her will.  
“I don’t know.”  
She nodded before going to back to the room. She threw in her things in a bag without bothering to change from her pajamas. Maybe if she did this one step at a time then she wouldn’t think about how it felt like her world was ending. Maybe then it wouldn’t feel like goodbye. She stood by the cabin door with her bag in one hand and Piglet on a leash in the other. Sam stood in the living room but was refusing to look at her.  
“I’ll take the Jeep back to my apartment.” Her hand froze on the doorknob as she stared wistfully at his back. “I’ll be there once you realize that this is a mistake.”


	15. Without You

It was two days later that Violet received a surprise. She had so far spent her days in her pajamas and cuddling with Piglet on the couch. Her ring felt heavy on her hand and she was tempted to take it off till she heard from Sam. Then there was the picture, well many pictures. And she was denying the fact that she was wearing his t-shirt because she missed him. No, it was because she still needed to do laundry. But then one night, about one in the morning, there was a loud banging on her door that was bound to cause a ruckus among her elderly neighbors. Violet opened the door to see Meg standing there with a large grin and less blood on her face.  
“Hey there Peaches. Where’s your boy toy?” Meg forced her way through the door, but was immediately caught in the trap underneath the rug.  
Violet wore a mused smile as she stepped out of harm’s way. “I bet those things are a bitch, huh?”  
Meg snorted. “Just get rid of it, will ya?”  
Violet shook her head. “Not until you tell me why you’re here. Do you have information?”  
“I was trying,” Meg forced through her teeth. “But Crowley’s men found me. Look, I don’t like asking for help but I need somewhere safe. What’s safer than a Winchester and his little homemaker?”  
Violet folded her arms. “He’s not here.”  
Meg’s eyebrows rose. “He wasn’t at that dump either.”  
“Then I don’t know where he is.” Violet tried to sound nonchalant, but it was hopeless. Her heart was aching more than it ever had.   
Meg’s laugh echoed through the apartment. “Aw, you had your first fight!”  
“It’s not funny!”  
“Please!”  
Violet huffed. Even though she was aggravated with this demon, she didn’t think Meg would hurt her. For some reason, this demon had stuck with these hunters and angel without killing them. Why would she do it now? Against the better judgment of the voice in her head, Violet tipped the rug over and scrapped away part of the trap. Meg pushed her aside and headed for the kitchen.  
“Please, make yourself at home.” Violet muttered bitterly.   
Meg pulled out one of Violet’s beers and chugged half of it. “So what was the fight about? Little ‘ol me?”  
“Among other things.” Violet sat back on the couch, immediately feeling for the gun she had hidden. Just in case.  
“And let me guess,” Meg continued, sitting on the chair opposite of Violet. “He was the one to suggest this temporary separation.”  
“How did you know?”  
“I know these Winchesters more than any other demon.”  
She shrugged. “The things he said were true. I’m his weakness, I guess.”  
“If you start pulling a ‘I love him more than my life so I’ll do anything he says’ act, then I’m going to puke all over this place. Got it?”  
Violet smiled unwillingly. “I do love him, but I won’t do everything he says.”  
“Then what in the hell are you doing now?”  
Violet’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have anything useful to say?”  
“Peaches, I’ve been around more than you have. I know a hell of a lot more than any of you.”  
Violet sighed, her focus far off. There was that stain on the couch. One day, Violet had jumped expectantly into Sam’s arms, knocking over his glass in his hand. This had caused a huge dark stain on the turquoise couch. But somehow, neither had cared. At that moment, they had held each other as if their lives depended on it.   
“Have you ever felt human emotion, Meg?” Violet asked distantly.  
“Millions of years ago.” The demon drawled.  
“Do you know what it was like to care for someone so much that nothing else mattered? That there existence made life worth living? All the darkness begins to disappear and you would follow them to the ground.”  
“A unicorn,” the demon muttered. “They make your life sad then sadder.”  
Violet smiled gently. “I like to think of them as pink elephants. Rare and life changing.”  
“You’re one messed up nut, Peaches.”  
“Shut up, Meg.”  
****************************************************************************************************************************************  
Sam leaned back in his chair, his hands rubbing his face. The stubble was unusual against his palms, but he hadn’t cared to shave in days. He looked over at Kevin who was lying on the bed and flipping through a book. This was their third motel so far, leaving Kevin to question why they had to keep moving around. Sam’s eyes watched the younger man gently.  
“You can go stay with her, you know?” Sam offered, forcing Kevin to put the book down and look at him questioningly. “I don’t mind.”  
Kevin shrugged. “I don’t want to leave you either.”  
“I can do just fine on my own, Kevin.” Sam smirked.   
Kevin slowly stood and walked beside Sam. “Why is this even happening?”  
Sam sighed with grief. “Violet and I just needed to clear our heads.”  
“No,” Kevin interrupted. “You needed to get away. Why?”  
“Look,” he forced his eyes to meet the younger man’s. “Dean has been my whole life. Suddenly, I’m married with a woman who wants to be a part of this crazy life and thinks she knows what’s she’s doing. It’s hard to make the right decisions when I’m being blindsided.”  
“But don’t you love her?”  
Sam nodded. “Very much.”  
“Then nothing else should matter, right? You guys can work all of this out together.”  
Sam closed his eyes. “It doesn’t always work out that way, bud.”  
Kevin turned away from him. “I hope you know I feel like a kid with divorced parents.”  
Sam knew. But he didn’t know what else to do. He wanted Dean and Cas back more than anything. Having Violet around made things more complicated and compromised everything. Maybe the worst mistake he had ever done was walking into that diner that night all those months ago. Thinking back on it, he had never known why he had walked into the diner. At the time, he had felt pulled there for some strange reason.  
******************************************************************************************************************************  
“Hiya Moose! Look, we have a slight situation.”  
Sam’s knuckles whitened at Meg’s voice on the other end of the phone. “I thought you were Violet. Why are you using her phone?”  
“That’s what I need to talk to you about. Get over to her apartment, now.”   
Sam frowned at Meg’s tone. Normally he would have thought she was threatening him with Violet. But if he didn’t know any better, he would have said Meg sounded worried. Telling Kevin to stay put, Sam headed back to their old apartment. He tried to ignore the gleam of sunlight bouncing off his wedding band. For some reason, it was making the worry increase in his stomach. Hours later when he arrived at the apartment, he found the door knocked down and Meg sitting on their couch with the dog whimpering at her feet.  
“What the hell, Meg? Where’s Vi?” He shouted.  
“Not here, jackass.” She snapped, drinking more alcohol.   
“What are you even doing here?” He asked as he frantically went through the apartment.  
“Look, Peaches has been letting me crash here in-between me getting intel.” She ignored his Bitch Face. “Anyways, I came back to find the door busted and the dog barking my ear off. So I called you. Now here we are!”  
“And I should believe you had nothing to do with this?”  
Meg threw up her hands and walked towards him. “I don’t give a damn what you believe. I happen to like your little wifey. She’s not a backstabbing hunter and has good taste in alcohol. You know, I could have looked the other way and not give a damn!”  
Sam straightened. “Has she said anything to you that may have seemed strange?”  
“Yeah, she talked about loving you. That’s strange enough for me.” She smirked.  
Sam’s heart fell. Violet was in trouble and he could have been here to protect her if he hadn’t been so stupid.   
“First thing’s first, had she removed all the demon traps since you started…hanging out here?” He forced.  
Meg nodded. “All except the one’s in her room.”  
That was his girl, Sam thought happily. He thought of Violet’s morning ritual in his head and slowly walked it out. It was just now three in the afternoon, so he had to hope it had happened this morning. If it had happened any time before then things didn’t look hopeful.  
“Okay, every morning, Vi checks the messages on the machine as soon as she wakes up.” He walked over to the phone, not seeing the numbers blink.  
“Not that I care, why?”  
He shrugged. “In case someone needed our help as soon as possible. Okay, next was the coffee.” He moved to the kitchen and saw one of her favorite mugs into pieces on the floor. It was the mug she used every Wednesday, which meant it had happened today. “They took her this morning.”  
Meg snorted. “Sherlock, you’re boring me. How will this help you find out what happened to her?”  
“Most professional hits would have happened at night. Since it was this morning, they had a chance to be spotted, which leads me to think demonic. They would have had to been watching her to know she was alone. They knew the demon traps were gone because you were moving in and out.”  
Meg nodded slowly. “You thinking Crowley?”  
“Maybe, but I have another idea.”


	16. Broken

“What did you do to her?”  
Sam stood holding a knife to the older man’s throat. The man backend against his chair in the dining room, struggling in his own silk robe. Meg silently snickered behind Sam and he could tell she was surprised with Sam’s brashness towards this human man.   
“Who the hell are you?” He swallowed deeply against Sam’s knife.  
“I think you already know. Now tell me, what did you do?”  
The man smiled slightly. “I take it you are my daughter’s husband.”  
“You don’t have the right to call her that.” Sam growled.   
The older man’s face fell. “I did what I had to do to save myself.”  
“You bastard! If she’s hurt…” Sam held the knife closer. He couldn’t control the rage that was boiling inside of himself. He would be lying if he said it was all at this man. No, part of him hated himself for letting Violet go in the first place. He hadn’t been there to protect him.  
“He made a deal, Sam.” Meg stated quietly.  
“How do you know?”  
She snorted. “Just listen to me. What did you give your soul up for?”  
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” The man insisted.  
“Answer her!” Sam demanded. “What did you do to Violet?”  
The man struggled against the knife, choking on his words. Sam could see the nervous sweat building on his forehead.   
“A man…he approached me.” He struggled. “I don’t know his name. He told me he could make all my debts disappear if I told him what I knew about Violet and where she was. He said nothing about my soul!”  
“Crowley,” Meg persisted. “I told you. Now what would he want with Peaches?”  
“All of us,” Sam guessed. He turned his attention back to Violet’s father. “If something has happened to her, then you can bet it will happen to you.”  
********************************************************************************************************************************  
It was after Sam let Meg go crazy on several demons that they found the location where Crowley’s men were keeping Violet. Sam had to calm Kevin on the phone, assuring him that everything was fine and to just stay at the cabin where Meg and Sam had dropped him off. It turned out, the location was the same cement factory that Crowley had first met Violet. Sam knew this had been done for some reason.  
“What’s the game plan, buddy boy?” Meg drawled. They watched as a few demons patrolled the doors. “We don’t exactly have the odds in our favor.”  
“Meg, how do you feel about being bait?”  
She paused. “You just want me killed.”  
“I do, but not right now. That’s coming later.”  
Meg huffed. “Fine, but I’m doing this for Peaches.”  
Sam watched from a distance as Meg walked calmly towards the demons guarding the entrance. The demons had noticed who she was, of course, which followed with a fight between them and Meg. While Meg was tied up, Sam made his way towards the factory. He climbed up an escape ladder on the side of the building before crawling through a window. He came up on a catwalk in the building. Looking down, he spotted Violet sitting tied in a chair in the center of the room. She was surrounded by four of Crowley’s men.   
Calmly, he lifted his shotgun and began firing salt bullets at the demons. He ignored their shocked expressions and continued firing. He heard the door bellow bust through and saw Meg walk through covered in blood. As she began her attack on the demons, Sam quickly made his way down. Two of the demons attacked him and he struggled to get the knife out. He managed to get one of the demons down after it had delivered countless punches. Sam was able to see Meg struggling slightly.   
The other demon tackled Sam to the ground, wrapping his hands around his throat. Sam gasped for air, his eyes rolling back slightly as he tried to lift his hands. Sam could feel the life draining out of him and somewhere in the background he could hear Meg’s grunts. No, this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. He was supposed to come in here and be able to get Violet out alive so they could makeup. They were supposed to have that house in the country. They had a family they needed to get back.  
Using what strength he had, Sam lifted his legs and kneed the demon in the groin. The demon stuttered back, giving Sam the chance to stab the demon. Sam turned, his head still fuzzy from the lack of air. Meg had the other demon’s preoccupied, giving Sam the chance to free Violet. He ran up to her, watching her eyes shed tears as she struggled against the bonds. He would remember later that day that when he had untied her he had rambled on and on about his future dreams for them. There had been something about a garden in the front yard and making sure they had a big enough fence so Piglet could roam. As soon as she was freed, Violet leaped into his arms.  
“I love you!” She sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s okay, let’s just get out of here!”  
As they stood to run away, Violet hesitated at seeing Meg still fighting with the other demons. Sam watched her face as she battled to stick with him or with her own judgment about Meg. Against his will, Sam ran to help Meg. He would remind her later that she owed him big time.  
**************************************************************************************************************************************  
He let Meg drive the car back to the cabin. He was too worried about Violet’s injuries from torture to care about anything else. They sat in the backseat, Violet slowly drifting in and out as he bandaged her wrists and head. When his hands grazed her stomach he heard her hiss. He lifted the shirt carefully to her covered in bruises. He would be a liar to say that his hands didn’t tremble. When they finally pulled up the cabin, Violet was the first one out despite her injuries.  
“Something’s wrong!” She yelled, running towards the door.  
“How do you know?” Sam asked, running behind her.  
They came into the cabin finding nothing disturbed. He watched Violet as she frantically ran through the cabin. He heard Meg walk wearily to stand by the front door.  
“What’s going on?” Meg asked. “Where’s Kevin and the dog?”  
“I don’t know.” He muttered. His heart started to race again.  
Violet walked quickly towards them, out of breath and grimacing in pain. “It’s the candle.”  
Sam looked at her quizzically before seeing the candle in the window she pointed at. “What about it? What’s going on?”  
“That’s the distress plan Kevin and I came up with a while back ago.” She explained. “If there’s trouble, light a candle in the window and barricade yourself in a room.”  
“Then why isn’t he here?”  
“I don’t know.” She whimpered. “We need to find them!”  
“The woods,” Meg suddenly said, leaving them. “There’s a dog collar hanging on a branch over there!”  
Violet’s breath hastened. “Oh god!”  
“Here’s what we’re going to do.” Sam quickly dug out flashlights out of his bag. “Meg and I are going into the woods and searching for them. Violet, stay here in case they come back.”  
For a moment, Violet wanted to fight with him but instead she just nodded. Meg went in the direction the dog collar had been as Sam went into a different direction. It was a while into his journey before he finally saw signs on the ground that hinted that Kevin had went that way. He saw a branch on the ground with blood, making his gut tightened. Walking deeper into the forest, he yelled Kevin’s name. He listened inventively before he heard a slight groan.   
“Kevin?” Sam walked briskly in the direction of the groan.  
“Sam?”  
He found Kevin huddled behind a large tree, his knees drawn up to his chest. His jeans were torn at the bottom to show where the blood had come from. Sam reached out towards the younger man and noticed how he flinched.  
“Kevin, are you okay?”  
Kevin nodded grimly with a tear stained face.   
“Come on,” Sam urged. “Let’s get you out of here.”  
“They came for me,” Kevin said quietly, halting Sam in his tracks.   
“Demons?”  
Kevin nodded. “They came through the front door, but I had repaired the trap earlier on instinct. I only had a few moments, but I lit the candle anyways so you guys would know what happened. I ran into my room and did everything Violet had told me to do. But then there was this loud bang and I could hear them coming.”  
“What happened, Kevin?” Sam gently touched his shoulder.   
“I barely made it through my window in enough time. I tried to get Piglet out, but he attacked them. I ran…I was just so scared.”  
“It’s okay, buddy.” Sam assured. “Meg’s looking for Piglet now. We saw his collar, it will be okay.”  
“Nothing will ever be okay again.”  
Sam had helped Kevin back to the cabin and he immediately ran into Violet’s arms. Sam’s heart tightened as Violet whispered reassurances to Kevin. Sam waited by the front door for Meg, his eyes finally noticing the crack on the floor through the devils trap. His eyes began to close in grief but opened when he heard Meg walking towards him. His eyes looked over every inch around the demon, but didn’t see the dog.  
“Where is he?” Sam demanded.  
Meg shook her head grimly. “They had killed him, Sam.”  
Sam sighed deeply. “They both loved that dog so damn much.”  
“I know,” Meg muttered. “I buried it for her.”  
“Thank you, Meg.”  
Meg stopped.  
“I mean it,” He continued. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”  
“Does this mean you’re off your little plan to kill me?”  
“Just for now.”  
Later that night, Sam held Violet as she sobbed silently in his arms. Kevin had locked himself in his room, putting up all kinds of protection. Sam had left Meg to guard the door, something Dean would have killed him for. Violet had finally soothed her tears and lifted her bruised face to look at him.  
“My dad did it, didn’t he?” She guessed.  
“Yeah, he did.” Sam took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”  
She shrugged halfheartedly. “I guess we should have expected Crowley going through him to find us.”  
“Did you ever see Crowley?”  
She nodded slowly. “He told me the plan from the beginning. He said while you were busy trying to get me, he would snatch Kevin and Meg right out from under us. I guess he didn’t expect you to let Meg work with you. But after that, I never saw him again.”  
“We have to be more careful.” Sam’s fist clenched and unclenched.   
“I get it now, you know.” Violet rested her hand over his heart. “I get everything you warned me about. As much training you gave me, I was still helpless when those demons came after me. I had been careless because I didn’t repair any of the traps when Meg left. I should have listened to you.”  
“We should have stayed together.” His arms tightened around her shoulders. “I didn’t mean the things I said.”  
“Yes you did. But I get it. You love Dean and Cas, and they were your family before me.”  
“But that doesn’t make you less important!” He insisted. “Look, I think we’re both each other’s weakness. And you know what? I’m okay with that. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now. I wouldn’t have done any of this.”  
“You don’t know that, Sam.”  
“I do, trust me, I do. Just…no matter what, we are sticking together like a family should. I don’t want to lose you, Vi. No more stupid mistakes like last time.”  
“What about when Dean and Cas get back?” She asked, though she didn’t want to. “How do you know they will want me around?”  
“You are staying beside me, changing that is not an option.”  
“You promise?”  
Sam smiled in spite of the circumstances. “Yes, I promise.”


	17. Stressed and Confused

Over the next week, Sam watched Violet carefully. She started planning with Meg, something that wasn’t a good sign. She didn’t give him small smiles anymore or make quiet plans with him. Instead, he watched her clean gun after gun. Her face stayed thoughtful but closed from everyone around her.   
“We need to get Crowley.” She finally told him one morning.  
“We will, Vi.” He wanted to gank Crowley just as much as any of them. But this new Violet scared him.   
“No we need to do it now.” She growled. “That bastard went too far.”   
“Violet,” He said calmly. “I’m worried about you.”  
“Why?” Her face drew up in confusion. “Because I want to kill Crowley?”  
“Because you’re not you anymore.”  
“Of course not, Sam!” She yelled. “I was kidnapped and beaten!”  
“I know, Vi.”  
“Yes, you do know. Haven’t you ever wanted to kill the things that ever did this to you?”  
“Of course, but not for the reasons you’re wanting to.” He stated quietly.  
“What do you mean?”  
“I wanted to kill, or did kill, those things to keep them from hurting other people. You’re wanting revenge!”  
“Yes, I do want revenge and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.” She drew away from him.   
“Listen to me, Violet!” He grabbed her gently by the shoulders. “If you let him change you, he wins. Don’t let him win by making you go blood thirsty.”  
Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know what else to do.”  
“Do what you meant to do when you first joined me.”  
“I did that because I love you and I wanted to be by your side.”  
“No,” he shook his head vigorously. “You did it because you saw a way to help people.”  
She wondered how he couldn’t see how it had all changed now. How was she supposed to go back? Violet drew away from him and locked herself in her room. He made it seem so simple, but for Violet it was different. Her own father had traded her for money and protection. She really shouldn’t have been surprised. Yet, she was. She was scared and confused for the first time. Where was she supposed to go from here?  
******************************************************************************************************************************************  
Meg talked to Violet about them getting rid of the King of Hell and Violet was a little happy that the demon saw her as an ally. Everything was grayer now. To Sam, she was supposed to acknowledge what happened to her and move on. Use that energy to help people and save lives. The family business, he called it. She literally had a demon and an ‘angel’ on her shoulder.   
So one night she snuck out. She needed to breathe without one of them trying to talk to her about their plans. She needed to escape, just for a moment. Out of paranoia, she took the demon knife. If Crowley tried to take her again, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.   
She was walking down the street and thinking of a good place to sit and think when she heard a woman scream. Violet didn’t even hesitate with running towards the distressed woman. She ran into an alley to see a woman being pressed up against a wall by a laughing man.  
“Hey!” Violet yelled.  
The woman turned to see her with a relieved look. The man, however, growled and gave her a pure black stared. Violet’s body momentarily froze at the demon. Not again, she prayed. Her palms felt sweaty as she tried to command her legs to work. The demon began laughing at her expense before moving his hand and throwing Violet against a wall. Violet’s head collided with the brick wall, making shooting pains go through her spine to her head. The woman’s screams echoed and became the only sound Violet heard.   
No, no, Violet screamed inside herself. She wasn’t going to let this bastard hurt anyone. Her hand barely reached for the knife inside her jacket before she stood on shaky legs. Forcing out all the pain and every thought, she ran towards the demon and shoved the knife into his back. Giving it a twist, she saw his head tilt back and lights empty out of his eyes. He fell limply to the ground.   
Violet looked at the terrified woman before her. The woman’s face was bloody and her eyes were wide at Violet’s knife. To the woman, Violet had just killed a man. To Violet, she had just saved the woman’s life from a demon. She had saved someone.  
****************************************************************************************************************************************  
Violet walked back into the apartment with her body aching from head to toe. Sam was pacing the floor when she opened the door. He took in her disheveled appearance.   
“What in the hell happened?” He demanded.  
“I went for a walk and ran into a demon.” She limped into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water.   
“They found you?” He began taking off her jacket for her. The bloody knife fell to the floor, making them both freeze.  
“No, it wasn’t me.” She slowly bent to pick up the knife. “A demon was attacking a woman.”  
“Did you…”  
She nodded. “But I didn’t do it for me. I did it to save her.”  
Their eyes finally met. “Are you going to be okay?”  
“Now I will be.” She took a deep breath. “You was right.”  
“It wasn’t about being right, Vi.”  
She shrugged her shoulders. “Revenge isn’t going to get us anywhere.”  
“Violet,” he sighed. “I’ve been on the revenge path before. It did nothing but destroy me and everyone I loved. I just didn’t want it to take over you like it did me.”  
“It won’t.” She smiled faintly. “We’re going to do this the right way.”  
He pulled her carefully into his arms. “I’m going to be there with you every step of the way.”  
“I know.” Violet took a deep breath. He smelled of sandalwood.   
“We’ll get Crowley, I promise. That bastard has hurt one too many people.”  
“Speaking of which, where is Meg and Kevin?”  
“Meg took off again. She said she would be back around. Kevin is in his room. He’s a little stressed and confused.”  
“Aren’t we all?”


	18. Dean

Violet giggled quietly. “Stop!”  
“What? I’m not doing anything.” Sam teased as his fingers continued to trail up and down her sides.   
“You play dirty, Sam Winchester.” She lightly bit his neck, invoking a gasp.  
“I can say the same thing about you, Mrs. Winchester.”   
She raised herself up, hands still splayed on his chest. He watched the moonlight shine against her hair as it spilled over her nude body. Her smile was bright and full like it had been in the beginning. Sam felt his chest tighten as his fingers folded in with hers.  
“I wish I could freeze this moment.” He muttered while he focused on her fingernails. They were small and painted blue that was slowly chipping away.  
“Why this moment?”   
He shrugged. “Everything seems so good right now. I just don’t want you and me to change.”  
She sighed and laid her head against his heart. “Do you think they will?”  
“They’re bound to. Even normal marriages strain and ours is definitely not normal.”  
“Maybe that gives us the upper hand?” She suggested. “No matter what’s thrown our way I think we can handle it, Sam. Especially after everything you went through without me.”  
“Do you…” He struggled. “Do you think we’ll make it to old age? I mean, most hunters are lucky to live to forty.”  
“Well, maybe in the next couple of years we can retire so we can live to old age. Go off and live in a retirement home somewhere and throw tapioca pudding at nurses.”  
Sam chuckled. “You’re something, you know that?”  
“Oh yeah, I know.”  
When Sam got the call he was unsure of what to do. Should he believe it? Violet slept by his side, quietly for once. He needed to find out for himself before getting her involved. So, he got up and packed a bag and left a brief note. He debated on telling her the truth, but in the end he couldn’t lie to her.   
****************************************************************************************************************************************  
“Dean, I can’t believe it’s you.” Sam’s cheeks were hurting from smiling so much.   
“I know, I look good for being in Purgatory for a year, don’t I?” Dean smirked. He dug further in to the bag of food Sam had brought. “Where’s the pie?”  
Sam’s grin broadened. “At the bottom of the bag. Where’s Cas?”  
Dean shrugged. “I don’t know. As soon as we got out he bounced.”  
“How did you get out?”  
Dean avoided his eyes. “So Sammy, what have you been doing without me?”  
“Uh, well.” Sam struggled for the words. “I hunted some. And Crowley had kidnapped Kevin but I got him back.”  
“Wait, what?” Dean pushed the pie away, a first for everything. “Did you do this by yourself? Sammy, that’s so stupid of you…”  
“Sam Winchester!” An angry voice bellowed. An angry redhead busted through the door, her eyes glaring daggers at Sam.  
“Who’s that?” Dean pointed to her.  
“Dean, this is Violet.” Sam introduced.  
Violet’s face immediately fell into shock. “It’s really him?”  
Sam nodded. “Yep. Violet this is my brother Dean.”  
“Is she a hunter?” Dean guessed.  
“In training.” She smirked bashfully. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Dean.”  
Dean ignored her and turned back to Sam. “What the hell is going on? And where’s Kevin?”  
“Oh, he’s in the car. He said he wanted to wait after I got all my anger out.” She informed.   
“Again, what the hell is going on here?” Dean repeated with a growl.  
“Dean,” Sam sighed. “Violet’s my wife.”  
Dean’s eyes flickered back and forth between them. “I need a drink.”  
“There should be some beer in the fridge.” She offered him and smile before going back to glaring at Sam. “You thought there was a chance that he was alive and back, and you just leave me behind with a silly note?”  
“If it wasn’t him, I didn’t want to jeopardize anything.”  
Violet rolled her eyes. “Sam, you can’t protect me forever.”  
“Wait,” Sam paused. “How did you find me anyways?”  
She snorted. “You forgot to turn off the GPS on your phone.”   
After Dean chugged half of his beer, he looked back at the disputing couple. “Okay, anyone wanna fill me in?”  
Violet turned to Sam. “I believe this is your job. I’m gonna go tell Kevin it’s safe to come in.”  
As Sam and Dean sat on the couch as Sam told their story, Violet and Kevin sat in the kitchen drinking coffee and pretending to play games. But Sam knew his wife and knew that every whisper between her and Kevin was her adlibbing to his story. And some points Dean would look dumbfounded and just say ‘Really, man? Can you be more of a chick?’ But as Sam told the story over again it all sounded like something out of a fairytale.  
“You really trapped Crowley?” Dean questioned, interrupted Sam’s story.  
“Yep!” Violet beamed with pride.   
Dean closed his eyes and suppressed a groan. “Continue, Sammy.”   
So he did. He listened as Violet made tacos for dinner, muttering under her breath. Sam opted out for not telling Dean about Meg. He didn’t want to give his brother an aneurism when he just got back. Finally, after they had all finished eating, the story had been told and they all sat around staring at each other.  
“So,” Kevin approached. “Does this mean we can finally get the other tablet from Crowley?”  
“There’s another tablet?” Dean shook his head.  
Violet grimaced. “We should have probably waited on that one, Kevin.”  
“Okay,” Dean held up his hands before pointing at Sam. “Does this mean you’re out?”  
“Out?” Violet questioned.  
“Out of hunting, out of the life, Red.” Dean filled her in.  
Violet’s face drew up and her smile dropped at his tone. “Okay, that’s it.”  
“Violet,” Sam warned.  
“No,” She stood. “We need to know the truth. Do you have a problem with me, Dean?”  
The older man tilted his head. “Not a problem necessarily. I’m just confused as to why this all happened. The last time my brother got married he was drugged by a crazy lady.”  
Violet’s eyes narrowed. “You think I drugged your brother?”  
Dean shrugged. “I’m not sure what to think.”  
“Okay, here it is. I met your brother unplanned. I became his hope that things could get better and he became my pink elephant.”   
“Pink…”  
“Don’t ask,” Sam suggested.  
“We have spent the past year,” Violet continued. “Saving people, hunting things, and trying to figure out how to get you and Castiel out of Purgatory. From the moment that Sam and I decided to be together, you became my family Dean. You’re even in my friggin will!”  
Sam’s eyes widened. “You didn’t tell me this?”  
Violet shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “I worked out an odd deal with my lawyer.”  
“Why am I in her will?” Dean asked Sam quietly.  
“You all are.” Violet bit her lip. “Well, except Castiel but only because I didn’t think an angel would want anything to do with money.”  
“Money?”  
Sam nodded slowly. “My wife is loaded.”  
Dean’s jaw dropped. “How loaded are we talking about?”  
“That’s not the point!” Violet growled. “The point is, we are a family and we are going to continue with the family business. Next item on the list in the Demon Tablet. Any questions?”  
Dean gave a slight chuckle. “Sammy, Red here has you whipped, doesn’t she?”  
Sam smiled despite everything else. “Yeah, I don’t really have a say anymore.”  
Later that night, everyone opted for sleep. Dean decided he wanted the couch just in case. Violet guessed something had happened in Purgatory that wasn’t pretty. She lay next to Sam, but her mind couldn’t stop wondering so she got up to get some water. She found Dean standing by the window watching the world outside like he was expecting an attack.  
“Everything okay?” She asked quietly.  
“For right now.” He sighed before turning towards her. “So you’re really in with all of this? You and Sam don’t want the white picket fence?”  
She shrugged. “We do, but some things are more important than our wants.”  
Dean’s focus was on the floor. “If you guys do decide that you want out…”  
“Dean,” She interrupted. “We’re with you, there’s no getting rid of us.”  
“So you’re going to hunt with us?”  
“Sometimes. I have a feeling I will mostly be on the sidelines helping out with other things.”  
She was turning to go back to her room when she heard him say, “Thank you.”  
“For what?” she asked, turning back to look at him.  
“For taking care of my brother.” His eyes finally met hers. “You’ve done him some good, Red.”  
“He helped me too.” She smiled softly. “Does this mean you approve of this? Of me?”  
“Can you cook?”  
“Yes,”  
“Make pie?”  
“Yeah. Does that matter?”  
“It means we’ll get along just fine, Red.”  
Violet crawled back into Sam’s arms, feeling his breath blowing gently on her neck as he slowly awoke. She felt his arms wrap tighter around her.  
“You okay?” She asked him.  
“Yeah,” He said, his voice still slightly groggy.   
“Me too,”  
“Was this what you expected?”  
“It’s much more.” Her smile widened. “It’s much better.”


End file.
